New Study Sheds Light on 45-Year-Old Alien Signal Mystery
On 15 August 1977 at 10:16PM EST, Ohio State University’s Big Ear radio telescope scanned the Sagittarius constellation and detected a signal that was 20 times stronger than average, background emissions. When astronomer Jerry Ehman reviewed the findings the next morning, he wrote “Wow!” next to it, unknowingly naming the signal and its subsequent mystery. Since its discovery, scientists have not been able to determine where the Wow! signal came from or found another similar to it. A new study, however, hones in on possible origins for this 45-year-old mystery. Using data collected from the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission, author of the study Alberto Caballero searched for yellow and orange dwarves (aka G- and K-type stars), identifying a star (known as 2MASS 19281982-2640123) that is the most similar to our sun. This star, located 1,800 light-years from Earth, has a solar analog that makes it the most likely region for an alien signal. Read more about this at Inverse.
Image courtesy of the European Space Agency
Via inverse.com link opens in a new window
