On Thu, 18 Jan 2001, Moorad Alexanian wrote:
> I am curious too. Of course, how to spend resources is another matter.
> Moorad
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vandergraaf, Chuck <vandergraaft@aecl.ca>
> To: 'Moorad Alexanian' <alexanian@uncwil.edu>
> Cc: asa@calvin.edu <asa@calvin.edu>
> Date: Thursday, January 18, 2001 8:20 AM
> Subject: RE: Is this a signal from aliens?
>
>
> >Moorad,
> >
> >Considering the low probability of detecting anything remotely intelligent
> >from outer space, one wonders why society spends the time and effort on
> >this. Could it be that, deep down, some are afraid that mankind is "home
> >alone"?
> >
> >Chuck Vandergraaf
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Moorad Alexanian [mailto:alexanian@uncwil.edu]
> >Sent: Thursday January 18, 2001 7:51 AM
> >To: asa@calvin.edu
> >Subject: Is this a signal from aliens?
> >
> >
> >Wednesday, 17 January, 2001, 16:51 GMT
> >
> > http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1122000/1122413.stm
> >
> >Still no sense in signal
> >
> >Is this a signal from aliens?
> >
> >By BBC News Online science editor Dr David Whitehouse
> >
> >A detailed look at the point in space from where an intelligent signal
> might
> >have come has revealed nothing unusual.
> >
> >
> >
> >The Ohio Big Ear detected the Wow signal
> >
> >The observations, using the multiple radio dishes of the Very Large Array
> >(VLA) in New Mexico, US, add to the mystery of what has been called the
> >"Wow" event.
> >
> >In August 1977, radio astronomers detected what could have been a signal
> >from intelligent life in space. But it happened only once.
> >
> >Now, two researchers, Robert Grey and Kevin Marvel, have used the VLA to
> >look at the source location with unprecedented sensitivity. They saw
> nothing
> >strange or anything that could explain the signal.
> >
> >Narrow band
> >
> >The Wow signal as it has become known is often described as our best
> >candidate for a signal from an alien intelligence in space.
> >
> >On 15 August, 1977, a burst of radio waves was detected by the now
> >dismantled Big Ear radio telescope of Ohio State University. The person who
> >spotted it, astronomer Jerry Ehman, was so surprised that he scribbled
> "Wow"
> >on the print-out.
> >
> >The event had all the properties that astronomers expected in a signal from
> >an alien intelligence. It was confined to a narrow band of frequencies and
> >it was very close to the "hydrogen line", a natural signpost in the
> >spectrum.
> >
> >Because the Ohio telescope cannot move, it was only possible to see the
> >signal as it passed across the telescope's field of view. From the way the
> >signal was detected, astronomers were certain it was coming from a point on
> >the sky.
> >
> >Mystery remains
> >
> >It only lasted 72 seconds and although researchers later looked at that
> same
> >patch of sky over a hundred times, they saw nothing. The signal, if it was
> a
> >signal, was a one-off event.
> >
> >
> >
> >The VLA was used for a more sensitive search
> >
> >Some researchers have said it was man-made interference but others pointed
> >to the signal's characteristics and said it definitely came from the sky.
> >
> >Since 1977, other radio astronomers have looked at that spot on the sky in
> >the hope of a repeat performance, but to no avail.
> >
> >The latest series of observations, described in the current issue of the
> >Astrophysical Journal, are more than a 100 times more sensitive than the
> >original Ohio observations.
> >
> >Grey and Marvel see two faint radio sources at the position that Wow came
> >from but both are nothing unusual.
> >
> >So, the mystery of the Wow signal remains.
> >
> >
>
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joel anderson * joela@nts.umn.edu 612-625-7389
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