Was the Wow Signal Caused by Comets?

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Michael Watson

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Message 1756088 - Posted: 13 Jan 2016, 19:04:56 UTC
Last modified: 13 Jan 2016, 19:12:48 UTC

Prof. Antonio Paris, of St. Petersburg College, Florida, suggests that the famous wow signal may have been caused by the presence of two comets, in the same portion of the sky, and at the same time the signal was detected.

This has aroused considerable skepticism, mainly on the grounds that comets, while containing hydrogen, do not seem to be prominent radio sources at the neutral hydrogen line, where the wow signal was heard. There may simply not have been enough energy for the very strong signal that was received.

There is another problem, too. The wow signal was heard in only one of the 'Big Ear' telescope's two adjacent beams, as if after passing through the first beam, it turned itself off. A comet should probably have been heard in the second beam, too, especially considering the very high power of the signal.

Link to journalistic article on this, and also a preprint of Paris' paper.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28747-famous-wow-signal-might-have-been-comets-not-aliens

http://planetary-science.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Paris_Davies-H-I-Line-Signal.pdf
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Message 1756126 - Posted: 13 Jan 2016, 23:16:37 UTC - in response to Message 1756088.  

Stranger things have happened.

Thanks for the links.
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Profile William Rothamel
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Message 1756248 - Posted: 14 Jan 2016, 14:07:03 UTC - in response to Message 1756185.  

Professor Rothamel has advanced a theory that the WOW signal was caused by a power surge in the amplifier in Antenna number 1?

So what ?
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Message 1756528 - Posted: 15 Jan 2016, 10:29:02 UTC

we thought BLOB signal was from a creature...& we thought wrong!

about WoW, we thought that it was aliens...
now we know it came from "no where"...
soon, we'll have all answers!
;)


non-profit org. Play4Life in Zagreb, Croatia, EU
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Message 1756633 - Posted: 15 Jan 2016, 17:50:03 UTC

Exactly, so what? A once off blip of no importance. But half the world and most of the USA are secret UFO hunters, dribbling in their cornflakes at the thought of it being a REAL signal ...... Ooooh Ooooh Martha, quick, I must write to the Apple crunchers Gazette, we've been contacted!!


Chris I am highly offended, I haven't ate cornflakes in years! Also I am wondering why the percentage is so much higher in the USA.

Bob
Sometimes I wonder, what happened to all the people I gave directions to?
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Message 1756639 - Posted: 15 Jan 2016, 18:11:00 UTC - in response to Message 1756633.  

Also I am wondering why the percentage is so much higher in the USA.

Bob I attribute that to the ready availability of aluminum foil here.
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Message boards : SETI@home Science : Was the Wow Signal Caused by Comets?


 
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