In the world of astronomy, it is rare for a single discovery to intrigue scientists and enthusiasts in the search for extraterrestrial life for almost half a century. But that is exactly what happened with the famous "Wow!" signal, recorded on August 15, 1977, by American astronomer Jerry Eyman of Ohio State University. Now, 49 years later, a group of scientists from the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo are on the trail of solving this fascinating mystery.
The "Wow!" signal, named after Eyman's spontaneous reaction to his discovery, stirred up great excitement in the scientific community from the beginning. The 1420 MHz radio transmission, recorded from space, seemed to meet all the criteria expected of an artificial signal from extraterrestrial intelligence. For years, the hypothesis of its extraterrestrial origin fired the imagination of both scientists and the public.
However, new research, published on the arXiv portal, sheds completely new light on the nature of this phenomenon. A team from the University of Puerto Rico has suggested that the source of the "Wow!" signal may be the radiation of a super-powerful laser - but it is not a weapon of alien civilizations, but a natural cosmic phenomenon.
The key to solving the mystery turned out to be research on a red dwarf star called Teagarden, located just 12.5 light-years from Earth. Analysis of signals from the star's vicinity showed they were linked to interstellar clouds of cold hydrogen. This discovery allowed scientists to propose a potential mechanism for the "Wow!" signal.
According to the new theory, a powerful burst of radiation, passing through hydrogen, excites the gas to produce an intense pulse at about 1420 MHz. The end result of this process is a natural astrophysical microwave laser, known as a maser, which generates an intense concentration of narrowband light on the hydrogen line. It is such a signal that may have registered as the mysterious "Wow!"
Interestingly, astronomers noticed that the original "Wow!" signal was much stronger than the bursts of activity that Teegarden's star is capable of. This led them to conclude that the likely source of the signal could have been a neutron star - an object with an extremely intense magnetic field and enormous density.
While the new discovery may disappoint those hoping for contact with extraterrestrial intelligence, it is scientifically exciting. It turns out that the "Wow!" signal may have been the first-ever recorded flash of a natural cosmic maser based on hydrogen. This discovery opens up new avenues for research into cosmic processes and could lead to a better understanding of the evolution of stars and galaxies.
It’s worth noting that while the new theory seems very convincing, scientists are still treating it with caution. The research published on arXiv has not yet gone through the peer review process, which is standard procedure in the scientific world. This means that other research teams will have to verify these findings before they are widely accepted by the scientific community.
Whatever the final conclusions, the story of the "Wow!" signal shows how fascinating and full of surprises space exploration can be. It also reminds us that even phenomena that initially appear to be supernatural or extraterrestrial in origin can often be explained within the known laws of physics - although sometimes it takes decades of intensive study.
This discovery, while potentially ending dreams of contact with an alien civilization in the context of a "Wow!" signal, opens up new, fascinating areas of research. It shows how much we still don't know about processes occurring in space and how much there is to discover. Perhaps it is these unexpected discoveries, and not direct contact with alien civilizations, that are the real "wow!" in space research.
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