The biggest question that human kind is seeking answers since ages
is ‘are we alone in the universe?’. The quest for search for
extraterrestrial intelligent life is endless, the curiosity is
immense and research is countless. We have been sending probes,
bursting out signals at different directions, yet there is not enough evidence about the presence of intelligent alien life, Out of this endless cosmic space, a
signal was detected for 72 sec in 1977 and was never heard since,
this was called the WOW! Signal,.
The
Wow! Signal was detected using a radio telescope. A radio telescope
collects weak radio light waves, amplify them and make it available
for analysis, We use them to study planets, black holes, starts and
other astronomical objects. These can also be used to transmit radio
light of the planetary bodies. The big ear radio telescope was
installed in Ohio state university has a massive size probably the
size of three football fields. This radio telescope started scanning
the sky from 1965 and was in 1970s, it started to listen for alien
signals. On August 15th 1977, during a routine
astronomical survey, an unusual signal was detected. An Astronomer
named Jerry R. Ehmen, while reviewing the data after a few days
detecting the signal, found an anomaly, circled the reading and
commented it as Wow!, Thus the name ‘Wow! Signal’. The reading
that he circled was ‘ 6EQUJ5’.
The
precise location of where the Wow! Signal originated is not exact. Astronomers
believe that the signal might have likely originated from Messier 55
(M55), a globular cluster in Sagittarius constellation.
There
are many hypotheses, surrounding the origin of Wow! Signal, This
ranges from aliens to military radio to spy satellites to even
planets and comets . The problem is that the signal was never heard
again. A Florida based professor, Dr. Antonio Paris in 2017,
suggested that the wow! Signal might have originated from a comet.
This theory was based on the explanation that the comets
266P/Christensen and P/2008 Y2 (Gibbs) was passing through the observatory when
the Wow! Signal was detected. The signal from these comets matched
the Wow! Signal, This theory was dismissed by the original big ear
team and many astronomers, stating no comets were seen on that day
and comets donot emit signals at strong frequencies.
Several
attempts were made to detect the Wow! Signal again but it was never
detected. The Wow! Signal was just a small whisper which faded into
the cosmic silence, However Wow! Signal is not the last alien signal
to be detected, there are many signals that were detected afterwards.
With the advancement of scientific knowledge and technology , we will
be able to detect many signals with pin point accuracy. It is obvious
that one day we might get answer to the burning question ‘Are we alone in
the universe?’
sources:
https://theprint.in/science/42-years-of-wow-signal-our-missed-opportunity-for-alien-contact/277423/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wow!_signal
https://www.seti.org/
sources:
https://theprint.in/science/42-years-of-wow-signal-our-missed-opportunity-for-alien-contact/277423/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wow!_signal
https://www.seti.org/
Nice info bro
ReplyDeleteThank u
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