For nearly fifty years, astronomers have been puzzling over what kind of signal they picked up in the summer of 1977, which most likely looked like a message from aliens. Now we may have the answer!
The Hűha! or Wow! signal is a radio signal that was discovered by Dr. Jerry R. Ehman on August 15, 1977, while he was exploring space with a large telescope as part of the SETI program. The radio flash was named Wow because Ehman added the English word “Wow!” (Wow!) with an exclamation mark in his shock. It is possible that the signal came from a possible extraterrestrial civilization. The solution has been waiting ever since, but the mystery may now be solved!
The signal, which was completely different from the cosmic background noise, lasted for 72 seconds and never repeated. It could not be located.
Abel Mendez, an astrobiologist at the University of Puerto Rico, has come to new findings after a series of analyses with his team. receiptThe signal may originate from the interaction between a hydrogen cloud and a neutron star. The star's radiation beam may have passed through the cold hydrogen cloud, causing intense radiation near 1420 MHz. Similar signals were detected in previous Arecibo observations of Teegarden's star. Teegarden is one of the smallest stars known, about 10 times dimmer than the Sun, and is 12 light-years away. Its signals are weaker than the WOW! sign, but they could point to its origin, since they are of the same nature.
According to the research, the signals near Teegarden’s Star are linked to cold interstellar hydrogen clouds. This could be the Wow! signal mechanism: a powerful beam of radiation passes through a cold hydrogen cloud, exciting the gas to produce a powerful pulse of radiation around 1420 megahertz. The end product is a natural laser that emits a narrow, intense focus of light like Wow! volts.
As a red dwarf, Teegarden is unlikely to produce a strong emission like the Wow! signal, but other cosmic objects can behave this way too. Although it is very rare, we have not detected a signal similar to Wow since then.
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