Iconic Wow! Study Says It Didn’t Come From Alien Civilizations

A mystery that has intrigued astronomers since 1977 has finally been clarified by a team of researchers from the Planetary Habitability Laboratory of the University of Puerto Rico in Arecibo. They proposed a plausible explanation for the so-called Wow Signal, considered that year a potential sign of extraterrestrial intelligence.

This powerful radio signal, which has not been explained until now, was detected by volunteer Jerry Ehman at the Big Ear radio telescope at Ohio State University in the USA. This facility operates as part of the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) program. was searching for signs that might indicate the existence of intelligent life on other planets.

“Orelhão” was searching for signals in the 1420 MHz hydrogen emission line, which is considered very important in radio astronomy. is a natural and universal signature, Because hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. On August 15, 1977, this frequency was not only captured for 72 seconds, but it was captured with a strength unlike any signal ever monitored, leading to Ehman’s epic Wow!

What does the new research have to do with the Wow signal?

Led by Abel Mendez The current research is part of the “Arecibo Wow!” project.An initiative of the University of Puerto Rico that aims to replicate and investigate the “Wow!” event. original. The hope is to better understand this mysterious event and be able to discover signals that are assumed to be extraterrestrial.

To do this, the team observed a variety of celestial targets at frequencies between 1 and 10 GHz using the Arecibo observatory between 2017 and December 2020. when the 900-ton structure supporting the platform above the satellite dish collapsedIn 2023, they resumed observations, this time at 8 GHz and using a 12-meter telescope, focusing on red dwarf stars with potentially habitable planets.

“Our latest observations, made between February and May 2020, revealed similar narrowband signals near the hydrogen line, although less intense than the original Wow! signal,” Méndez said in a statement.

Conclusion about wow! we come from an alien civilization

It disappointed the ufologists on duty. The study concluded that the reason for Wow! It has nothing to do with alien civilizations, Rather, it’s a rare astrophysical event: “a sudden increase in the brightness of a cold hydrogen cloud due to stimulated emission from a strong transient radiation source, such as a magnetar flare or a soft gamma repeater,” he says.

Even though it is rare These events can cause hydrogen clouds to glow briefly intensifies, which also explains the ephemeral nature of Wow! This proposal also warns of a new source of false positives in the search for extraterrestrial technosignatures.

Four Wow!-like signals, although slightly weaker, came from a star called Teegarden, just 12.5 light-years from Earth. Although these records are associated with cold hydrogen clouds, a powerful burst of radiation passing through them could give a boost in the radiation pulse of about 1420 MHz.

Stay up to date with the latest scientific studies on TecMundo and find out why Stephen Hawking doesn’t want to make contact with extraterrestrials.