The video discusses the "Wow! signal," a strong, narrowband radio signal detected in 1977 by a radio telescope at Ohio State University. The signal lasted for 72 seconds and was so strong that it was considered one of the most promising candidates for a transmission from an extraterrestrial civilization. However, despite numerous attempts to verify the signal, its origin remains a mystery. The video's host explores various theories, including the possibility that the signal was of natural origin, such as a comet emitting radiation at a specific frequency. The video also touches on the idea that our attempts to communicate with extraterrestrial life may be futile, and that we may be waiting for a response that will never come. Ultimately, the host concludes that the Wow! signal remains an intriguing enigma that continues to spark our imagination and curiosity about the possibility of extraterrestrial life.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. On August 15, 1977, a radio telescope called Big Ear detected an unknown, supposedly interstellar signal.
2. The signal was received by Ohio State University's Big Ear radio telescope as part of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
3. The signal lasted 72 seconds and is still a mystery.
4. The signal was so strong that it was 30 times more powerful than any signal the Big Ear had received before.
5. The frequency at which the signal was received on Earth is 1420 MHz, which is a forbidden frequency on Earth.
6. Physicists Bernard Oliver, Giuseppe Cocconi, and Philip Morrison believed that 1420 MHz is the best frequency for interstellar communication.
7. Hydrogen emits at the frequency of 1420 MHz.
8. The Big Ear monitors the space across one line, and in order to hear the signal again, we need to wait until the telescope is pointed into that spot again.
9. The signal was lost, and when the Big Ear was pointed in that direction again, there was nothing.
10. Subsequent studies of that spot with other powerful telescopes didn't produce any results.
11. The signal is believed to have lasted less than 24 hours.
12. A professor of astronomy, Antonio Perez, found out that at the time when the signal was received, there were two comets in the constellation of Sagittarius.
13. Comets leave gaseous hydrogen tails for millions of kilometers.
14. The researches confirmed that the Kristensen comet sends a signal at this frequency to Earth.
15. When the radio telescope is pointed one degree away, the signal is lost, when pointed back up, the signal resumes.
16. Three random comets from the JPL Small-Body database were detected, and they also sent the same radio signal.
17. The SETI program workers do not agree with the results of these researches and keep searching for extraterrestrial intelligence.
18. Stephen Hawking was convinced that we shouldn't send signals to aliens because they may arrive and torture us.