The mysterious “Wow!” signal recorded by astronomers 47 years ago may be the result of an extremely rare phenomenon – the interaction between a hydrogen cloud and a neutron star.
On August 15, 1977, the Big Ear Observatory in Ohio recorded an intense radio signal that startled astronomer Jerry Ehman enough that he marked it red and wrote “Wow!”. This signal puzzled scientists, who for a long time could not identify its source. Therefore, in attempts to explain it, many diverse, sometimes even fantastic theories appeared.
The Arecibo Wow! (AWOW) project, using data from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, found that the signal may have been caused by a rare phenomenon where a massive hydrogen cloud began emitting extremely bright light. Abel Mendez, an associate professor of physics and astrobiology at the University of Puerto Rico who led the study, admitted that he only recently began studying this signal. He said that for many astronomers, this signal seemed random, so it was not given enough attention.
The “Wow!” signal was unique because of its narrowband frequency and intensity, which lasted 72 seconds. Because of this, some scientists have speculated that the signal could have been artificial, perhaps even a message from an alien civilization. However, data collected by the Arecibo telescope from 2017 to 2020 indicate that such signals could be caused by interstellar clouds of cold hydrogen.
Mendez and his team hypothesized that the “Wow!” signal could have been caused by a magnetar, a type of neutron star with extremely strong magnetic fields that can excite atoms in hydrogen clouds, causing them to suddenly glow. This rare phenomenon requires further research, so the team plans to use the Very Large Telescope in Chile to clarify the source of the signal.
Mendez admits that he has learned more about the “Wow!” signal in recent months than in his entire life, and he’s now determined to continue exploring the mystery.
We previously reported on the failure to get new transmissions from the possible source of the “Wow!” signal.
According to sciencealert.com
