The Wow! Signal After 45 Years

I love how we say it can only be an alien signal if it repeats but our own signal we sent out was done once. That's all. So anyone who received our artificially generated signal and sat there waiting for it to repeat is going to be as disappointed as we are with the WOW signal. Perhaps once is all any civilization sends out a message.

77 was an awesome year. We had the Voyager launches, Starwars, and the WOW signal!

It’s crazy to think the WOW! signal is still out there, traveling through space, now 46 light years away from us. It blows my mind to think about where it is from and how it came to us. And what are the odds that the telescope caught it when it did… wild.

We can't say the WOW signal didn't repeat. It could've repeated ten times. The array that captured it was flat and scanned the sky using the rotation of the earth. So they had to wait a full 24 hours just to get back to that general region of space. We'll never know. It very well could've kept going or been going for some time before it was detected.

“DO NOT ANSWER. DO NOT ANSWER.”

Rest in peace Robert Gray. I hope one day we find out what the “wow” signal was. We owe this one to Robert!

The deep field pictures get me. Staring at all those galaxies we could be looking at millions of civilizations. And the fact that our observable universe is a miniscule fraction of whats supposedly out there gives me chills.

Little known fact: radio astronomer Jerry R. Ehman was looking at the printout upside down when he noticed the signal data. He then wrote ¡MOM, wanting to show his findings to his mother later. The rest, as they say, is history. Joking aside, this was a fascinating topic that hopefully continues receiving attention from the scientific community.

It seems insane to me that we don't have observatories constantly scanning the same part of the sky.

So, we've only listened to that part of the sky for 10% of the time needed to rule it out... I'm surprised that only 148 hours has been devoted to it, given that it could simply be a matter of hitting a perfect alignment with the source, which could depend on the rotation of both planets syncing up, if it is, indeed, coming from a planet's surface. 148 hours is obviously not enough, given that possibility.

this video gave me goosebumps...RIP Robert Gray, excellent analysis. Let's get to 1500 hours of study on the Wow signal!!!

I only understand maybe 10% of the content of Cool Worlds videos, but i am absolutely glued to the screen for 100% of my time watching them. I am so grateful that such diligence and brain power is given to these subjects, even if i struggle to immediately understand what i’m watching. Keep up the great work 👍

Since the 1970s we have spent about a week looking at this region of space for another signal. That is what’s WOW!

I have a question, professor. Doesn't lack of new detection of the wow signal also reduce the probability that the signal is from some natural phenomenon?

You do a really great job of making science seem like a "collective human endeavour," like it's a journey and process that we're all undertaking to some extent, and we're all progressing in. It's nice. I'm not sure if I 100% agree, but it's a nice sentiment.

This video is such a gem! Sorry to hear Robert Gray passed away. Respect for doing real science and publishing along with educating the public. It is one of the few, rare youtube channels in this regard. The quality of the video is exceptional, as always! Live long and prosper, prof. David Kipping!

Amazing that you two were able to collab before he passed. I hope you and others are able to keep the dream alive, just as he and others have.

Wait... You mean to tell me there has only been a relatively few HOURS of subsequent observation of the relevant area? WTF! Dude I would have never guessed that. We should have receivers pointed there at all times for at least 5-10 years minimum. If that is a directional transmitter on an Exoplanet it could take centuries before the planet comes back around to point towards us. At the very least they should give it a decade before giving up but it feels like they literally just gave up the moment it happened with just random observations here or there because someone was bored.

I absolutely love your storytelling style. It really inspires me in my own videos. Thank you for bringing so much class to space-content creators👌

This is the most comprehensive treatment of the WOW signal on YouTube. Geared for the non physicist. Thank you for the great work!