It looks at the pattern of events to predict specific outcomes. It's more than just calculating the odds of a likely event. The authors look at when an unobserved burst might have occurred, and apply Bayesian statistics to calculate when a future burst might occur.īayesian statistics is subtle but powerful.
But the idea isn't as silly as it sounds. It sounds like the authors are arguing that it must be a non-random repeater because we've never observed it repeat. We've never seen the Wow! signal repeat, and we've proved it can't be repeating periodically, but maybe it's been repeating non-randomly such that we've never observed it. On the face of it, this seems like a silly idea. Astrophysical processes can be stochastic in a similar way. We know where they generally happen, know they will happen again, but predicting exactly when is nigh on impossible. Rather than having a measurable period, stochastic repeaters repeat somewhat randomly. A stochastic repeater is a bit different. Astronomers have considered this idea, and have made observations that rule out a source with a regular periodicity. Things like variable stars or fast radio bursts can have a predictable variability. In this work, the authors argue that the source could be some kind of stochastic repeater. A scattered signal is possible, but the strength of the signal would be unusual, and the frequency of the Wow! signal is within a range where transmissions are restricted.Īpplying Bayesian statistics to a likely outcome. But a plane wouldn't be in range for more than 72 seconds, and there is no record of such a flight. The most basic idea is that the signal was of terrestrial origin, perhaps a plane passing overhead, or a radio signal scattered off space debris. Several natural origins have been proposed, but all of them are a bit lacking. By the time astronomers could go back to observe the source, the event was long over.īut despite having just one observation, the Wow! signal is considered the strongest candidate for an extraterrestrial signal. Because of this, the signal was only discovered days after the event when recorded observations were reviewed. Astronomers simply set it up, and it would run on its own, recording the strength of signals as it goes. The reason the Wow! signal lasts 72 seconds is that's how long it took the source to sweep across Big Ear's observation range.īig Ear was also a passive telescope. Rather than being able to track radio signals like most modern radio telescopes, Big Ear was set to a particular elevation and relied on Earth's rotation to scan across the sky. Our knowledge of the signal is limited given the design of Big Ear. It does not store any personal data.Observed on 15 August 1977 by the Big Ear radio telescope at Ohio University, the signal was a strong, continuous, narrow band radio signal lasting at least 72 seconds. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
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