The Wow! Signal
The Wow! Signal The Wow! Signal is an enigmatic radio signal detected by the Big Ear radio telescope of Ohio State University on August 15th, 1977. This signal was so strong, and so unlike anything seen before, that the astronomer who picked it up, Jerry Ehman, wrote the exclamation ‘Wow!’ on the printout of the data. Since then, the Wow! Signal has become one of the most talked about and debated astronomical phenomena of all time, with some speculating that it could be evidence of extraterrestrial life. In this essay, we will explore the history, characteristics, and current theories about the Wow! Signal in an attempt to understand this mysterious phenomenon. In the early 1970s, Ohio State University set up the Big Ear radio telescope at the Ohio State University Radio Observatory in Delaware, Ohio. The telescope was operated by volunteers and used to search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) signals. On August 15th, 1977, the telescope detected a signal so strong that it...