Way back in August 1977, scientists received a strange radio signal from deep space. Known as the ‘Wow!’ signal, it lasted over a minute. Long thought to be a sign of extraterrestrial life, in 2017 it was said that the signal was most likely generated by a passing comet. However, it does not have a clear explanation till now.
Paris and team recently took an opportunity to survey the region of the sky around Sagittarius once again, using a 10-meter radio telescope, when Comet 266P/Christensen was again passing through this region. They determined that the signal of 266P/Christensen (and three other comets) matched the Wow! signal.
The original signal from 1977 was stronger than the signal these astronomers observed from Comet 266P/Christensen. Paris and his team explain this by the fact that radio telescope they used (10 meters) was smaller than the Big Ear Radio Telescope, whose sensitivity is equivalent to a 52.5-meter radio dish. Moreover, because comets lose mass as they pass into the inner solar system, Comet 266P/Christensen would have been more massive 40 years ago.
Paris admits it is not certain that the Wow! signal was generated by Comet 266/P Christensen; however, his team concludes that the 1977 Wow! signal was a natural phenomenon generated by a comet.
Credit : Earth Sky
Picture Credit : Google
