Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T12:12:47.992Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An approximation to determine the source of the WOW! Signal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 May 2022

Alberto Caballero Open the ORCID record for Alberto Caballero [Opens in a new window]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this paper it is analysed which of the thousands of stars in the WOW! Signal region could have the highest chance of being the real source of the signal, providing that it came from a star system similar to ours. A total of 66 G and K-type stars are sampled, but only one of them is identified as a potential Sun-like star considering the available information in the Gaia Archive. This candidate source, which is named 2MASS 19281982-2640123, therefore becomes an ideal target to conduct observations in the search for techno-signatures. Another two candidate stars have a luminosity error interval that includes the luminosity of the Sun, and 14 candidates more are also identified as potential Sun-like stars, but the estimations on their luminosity were unknown.

Keywords

WOW! SignalSETISearch for Extraterrestrial Intelligenceinterstellar radio messagealien life
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 21 , Issue 3 , June 2022 , pp. 129 - 136
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andreoli, C (2020) Goldilocks Stars Are Best Places to Look for LifeGoogle Scholar
Charbonneau, R (2018) This Month in Astronomical History. American Astronomical SocietyGoogle Scholar
Cox, A (1999) Allen's Astrophysical Quantities. Springer LinkGoogle Scholar
Ehman, JR (1997) The Big Ear Wow! Signal What We Know and Don't Know About It After 20 Years. Big Ear Radio ObservatoryGoogle Scholar
European Space agency (ESA) (2010) The Gaia ArchiveGoogle Scholar
France, K et al. (2020) The High-energy Radiation Environment around a 10 Gyr M Dwarf: Habitable at Last? Astronomical Journal 160(5), [237]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, RH and Ellingsen, S (2002) A Search for Periodic Emissions at the Wow Locale, The American Astronomical Society, 578, 967CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harp, GR, Gray, RH, Richards, J, Shostak, GS and Tarter, JC, (2020) An ATA search for a repetition of the wow signal. The Astronomical Journal 160(4), 162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heller, R et al. (2012) Superhabitable worlds. Astrobiology, 50–66Google Scholar
Maccone, C (2010) The statistical Drake equation. Acta Astronautica 67(11–12):1366–1383CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paris, A and Davies, E (2015) Hydrogen Clouds from Comets 266/P Christensen and P/2008 Y2 (Gibbs) are Candidates for the Source of the 1977 “WOW” Signal. Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences 101, 4Google Scholar
SETI Institute (2017) Was it ET on the line? Or just a comet?Google Scholar
The Staff at the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (1974) The Arecibo message of November, 1974. Icarus, 26(4), pp.462–466Google Scholar
Weidner, Carsten (2010) ‘The masses, and the mass discrepancy of O-type stars. Astronomy and Astrophysics 524, A98CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wheeler, E (2014) The ‘Wow’ Signal, Drake Equation and Exoplanet Considerations. Journal of the British Interplanetary Society 67, 412–41Google Scholar