1977 Wow Signal May Be Comets P/2008 Y2 (Gibbs) or 266P/Christensen

Summary: Professor Antonio Paris suggests that astronomer Jerry Ehman’s 1977 Wow Signal may be radiation from comets P/2008 Y2 (Gibbs) or 266P/Christensen.

The 1977 Wow! signal: The Ohio State University Radio Observatory and the North American AstroPhysical Observatory (NAAPO), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Professor Antonio Paris anticipates disproving or proving cometary sources of the 1977 Wow Signal, according to an article published in the winter 2016 edition of Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences.

The 1977 Wow Signal brings up the backstory of the mysterious source of the electromagnetic signature sequenced 6EQUJ5 from neutral hydrogen spectral frequencies Aug. 15, 1977. Researchers consider black holes, military experiments, satellites, space waves and supernovae non-contributive to the 72-second signal peaking at 23:16:01 Eastern Daylight Time (15:49 Greenwich Mean Time). Regulations do not allow Earth-reflected transmissions at 1420 megahertz, equivalent to an 8.27-inch (21-centimeter) wavelength, and to neutral hydrogen-absorbing and emitting line frequencies of 1420.40575177 MHz.

The signal’s location emerges as equally mysterious.

The Ohio State University Radio Observatory in Delaware furnishes for the narrowband signal a location northwest of the globular star cluster M55 in the constellation Sagittarius.

Big Ear Radio Telescope records gave approximations of 2.5 degrees south of the Chi Sagittarii star group and declinations (astronomy’s latitudinal equivalents) of −27°03′ ± 20. IBM 1130 mainframe computer printouts of what is now North American Astrophysical Observatory Records MSS 1151 had two possible values for right ascension (astronomy’s longitudinal equivalent). Processing procedures in the 1970s impeded reconstructing with confidence to which of the telescope’s negative and positive radio signal-searching feed horns the detection must be attributed.

The value 19h 22m24.64s ± 10s joins 19h 25m17.01s ± 10s as possibilities.

Mount Pleasant Radio Observatory near Hobart, Tasmania, Ohio State University and the Very Large Array near Socorro, New Mexico, keep seeking astronomer Jerry Ehman’s discovered signal.

Suggestions from astronomers at the University of Tasmania in Australia and the Very Large Array Radio Astronomy Observatory led Professor Paris to consider cometary radiation emissions. Astronomers at the University of Tasmania and the Very Large Array respectively mentioned “transiting celestial source” and something “moving with the source of the hydrogen line.” Professor Paris noted the proximitous transits of comets 266P/Christensen and P/2008 Y2 (Gibbs) to the Chi Sagittarii star group from July 27, to Aug. 15, 1977.

The 1977 Wow Signal originated between the two comets’ declinations and right ascensions.

Reconstructions provide declinations of -27°36 and -25°58 and right ascensions of 19h 16m37s ± 10s and 19h 25m17s ± 10s for P/2008 Y2 (Gibbs) and 266P/Christensen.

They quantify distances of 3.8055 astronomical units (353,744,931 miles; 569,297,282 kilometers) for 266P/Christensen and 4.406 (409,565,147 miles; 659,131,211 kilometers) for P/2008 Y2 (Gibbs) on that date. The comet 266P/Christensen and the comet P/2008 Y2 (Gibbs) respectively repeat their transits of the 1977 Wow Signal neighborhood Jan. 25, 2017, and Jan. 7, 2018. Professor Paris suggests that their spectra may be analyzed since cometary neutral hydrogen clouds “emit electromagnetic radiation at a frequency along the hydrogen line (1420.40575177 MHz).”

Comets 266P/Christensen and P/2008 Y2 (Gibbs) turn up as 2006’s and 2008’s discoveries.

locations of signals detected by The Ohio State University's Big Ear Radio Telescope's two feedhorns and transit locations of comets 266P and P/2008 from July 27 to Aug. 15, 1977; figure via The Minor Planet Center and NASA JPL Small Body Database: A. Paris and E. Davies, Hydrogen Clouds from Comets 266/P Christensen and P/2008 Y2 (Winter 2015), CC BY 4.0 via Cornell University Library arXiv

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Wow! signal: The Ohio State University Radio Observatory and the North American AstroPhysical Observatory (NAAPO), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wow_signal.jpg

locations of signals detected by The Ohio State University's Big Ear Radio Telescope's two feedhorns and transit locations of comets 266P and P/2008 from July 27 to Aug. 15, 1977; figure via The Minor Planet Center and NASA JPL Small Body Database: A. Paris and E. Davies, Hydrogen Clouds from Comets 266/P Christensen and P/2008 Y2 (Winter 2015), CC BY 4.0 via Cornell University Library arXiv @ https://arxiv.org/abs/1706.04642

For further information:

Carpineti, Alfredo. 13 January 2016. “Scientist Claims to Have Figured out What the Mysterious ‘Wow!’ Signal Was.” IFL Science > Space.
Available @ http://www.iflscience.com/space/wow-signal-might-have-been-comets

Daily News. 11 January 2016. “Famous Wow! Signal Might Have Been from Comets, not Aliens.” New Scientist> News > Space.
Available @ https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28747-famous-wow-signal-might-have-been-from-comets-not-aliens/

Dvorsky, George. 11 January 2016. “Mysterious Wow! Signal Came from Comets, not Aliens, Claims Scientist.” Gizmodo.
Available @ http://gizmodo.com/mysterious-wow-signal-came-from-comets-not-aliens-cl-1752331824

“Famous ‘Wow!’ Signal Could Be from Comets, not Aliens.” RT > News > 15 January 2016.
Available @ https://www.rt.com/news/329112-wow-signal-comets-aliens/

Paris, Antonio; and Davies, Evan. 1 January 2016. “Hydrogen Clouds from Comets 266/P Christensen and P/2008 Y2 (Gibbs) Are Candidates for the Source of the 1977 ‘Wow’ Signal.” The Center for Planetary > Astronomy > Front Page News > Planetary Science > The Solar System.
Available @ http://planetary-science.org/hydrogen-clouds-from-comets-266p-christensen-and-p2008-y2-gibbs-are-candidates-for-the-source-of-the-1977-wow-signal/

Scott Waring. 29 Aug. 2013. "The Alien Wow Signal, 72 sec, at 1420.4556 MHz, New View! Aug 1977, UFO Sighting News." YouTube.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkycNvrpjCs

Smithsonian Magazine @SmithsonianMag. 14 January 2016. "1977 blast from space is often cited as our best evidence of alien contact, but was it just comets." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/SmithsonianMag/status/687760802368098304

Staffs. 14 January 2016. “Researchers Claim Famous 1977 ‘Wow!, [sic] Signal May Have Been Comets, not Aliens.” The British Journal > Science.
Available @ http://www.thebritishjournal.com/science/researchers-claim-famous-1977-wow-signal-may-have-been-comets-not-aliens-400-2016/

Toobin, Adam. 12 January 2016. “Scientists claim Famous 1977 ‘Wow!; [sic] Signal May Have Been Comets, Not Aliens.” Inverse > News.
Available @ https://www.inverse.com/article/10119-scientists-claim-famous-1977-wow-signal-may-have-been-comets-not-aliens

Waring, Scott. 29 August 2013. “The Alien Wow signal, 72 Sec, at 1420.4556 MHz, New View! Aug 1977, UFO Sighting News.” YouTube.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkycNvrpjCs

Weisberger, Jason. 12 January 2016. “The Wow! Signal May Have Been a Pair of Comets.” Boing Boing.
Available @ https://boingboing.net/2016/01/12/the-wow-signal-may-have-been.html