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Wow! signal explained after 40 years | 12am News
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Apr 24, 2025
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[Music]
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in the anals of human curiosity few
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phenomena have captured the imagination
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quite like the wow signal back in 1977
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on August 15th the big air radio
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telescope in Delaware Ohio intercepted
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an extraordinary signal that lasted a
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mere 72 seconds its Discovery was so
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momentous that the astronomer who
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spotted it couldn't help but scroll wow
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in red ink across the print out the
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signal bore the Hallmarks of what seti
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that is search of extraterrestrial
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intelligence astronomers might expect
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from an advanced alien civilization yet
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despite extensive efforts to redetect
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the signal the enigmatic wow signal has
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never reappeared the incident unfolded
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at the Big Ear radio Observatory
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renowned among astronomers where Jerry
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mman volunteered as an astronomer Big
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Ear designed by the Pioneer radio
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astronomer John Krauss was
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unconventional in appearance resembling
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a football field painted white with feed
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horns acting as bleachers its initial
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purpose was to create the most precise
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radio sky map ever however after mapping
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the sky in
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1972 big year embarked on a new mission
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in
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1973 a group of volunteer astronomers
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along with professionals from diverse
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Fields sou to detect radio signals from
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technologically advanced
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extraterrestrial beings the project
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operating on a shoestring budget engaged
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unpaid Volunteers in its Pursuit Forman
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pursuing fast data printouts was a
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routine part of his volunteer role then
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came August 7
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1977 a day that would itch the wow
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signal into history emman encountered a
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sequence of numbers and letters 6 EQ
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uj5 unremarkable to the untrained eye IM
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and recognized the significance the
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signal exhibited a distinctive pattern
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starting low rising in strength and then
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fading which suggested its origin as a
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specific region of the sky passed over
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detector crucially it appeared only in
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one of the observatory's 50 channels
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Eman realized the signal was a potential
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gem for seti it was a narrow band signal
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just what we were looking for IM and
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recalled the astonishment he felt
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translated into his immediate
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inscription of wow onto the print out
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nonetheless as days rolled by the signal
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failed to reappear despite Thor secretin
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no natural explanation could account for
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it the mystery deepened as the team
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focused on that section of the sky only
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to find no trace of the signal the
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Intrigue surrounding the wow signal
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persisted but no subsequent atoms
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managed to recreate the phenomenon
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despite being the longest continuous sat
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search in history the project at Big Ear
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concluded without even encountering
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anything similar again Seth shch a
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senior astronomer at the seti institute
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elaborates on the significance was that
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ET or was that not ET Nobody Knows the
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signals one of nature was not uncommon
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in the early days of seti due to limited
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computing power for realtime analysis
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today the focus has shifted with
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sophisticated computers mystery signals
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have come rarer for instance recent
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years have seen the discovery of fast
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radio burst that is FBS transient strong
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radio
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signals despite initial appearances of
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being onetime events astronomers have
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made strides in tracking down their
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orions interestingly schack notes that
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the fascination with the wow signal
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stems more from the public than from
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astronomers misinterpretations often
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arise with people beinging the
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combination of numbers and letters on
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the print out as an alien code shc
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clarifies that these markings were
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merely conventions by human astronomers
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to represent intensity levels Jerry
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imman himself remained intrigued but
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uncertain about the wow signal when
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questioned about his potential message
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he candidly States who knows I have no
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idea what might have been contained in
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the message if anything while the v
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signal might remain an enigma its Legacy
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endures representing the Eternal Quest
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For answers in the boundless Cosmos
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whether it was an extraterrestrial
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greeting or a fleeting Cosmic occurrence
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its impact on the imagination of
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humanity continues to resonate
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[Music]
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