Editing Wow! signal (section)

{{Short description|1977 narrowband radio signal from SETI}}
{{About|the radio signal|the racehorse|The Wow Signal}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Good article}}

[[File:Wow signal.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The Wow! signal represented as "6EQUJ5". The original printout with Ehman's handwritten exclamation is preserved by [[Ohio History Connection]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wood |first=Lisa |date=July 3, 2010 |title=WOW! |url=https://www.ohiohistory.org/wow/ |access-date=July 2, 2016 |website=Ohio History Blog |publisher=Ohio History Connections}}</ref>]]

The '''Wow! signal''' was a strong [[narrowband]] radio signal detected on August 15, 1977, by [[Ohio State University]]'s [[Big Ear]] radio telescope in the United States, then used to support the [[search for extraterrestrial intelligence]]. The signal appeared to come from the direction of the constellation [[Sagittarius (constellation)|Sagittarius]] and bore expected hallmarks of [[Extraterrestrial intelligence|extraterrestrial]] origin.

Astronomer Jerry R. Ehman discovered the anomaly a few days later while reviewing the recorded data. He was so impressed by the result that he circled on the computer printout the reading of the signal's intensity, "6EQUJ5", and wrote the comment "Wow!" beside it, leading to the event's widely used name.<ref name="npr">{{Cite web |last=Krulwich |first=Robert |date=May 29, 2010 |title=Aliens Found In Ohio? The 'Wow!' Signal |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126510251 |access-date=July 2, 2016 |publisher=[[NPR]]}}</ref>

The entire signal sequence lasted for the full 72-second window during which Big Ear was able to observe it, but has not been detected since, despite many subsequent attempts by Ehman and others. Several hypotheses have been advanced on the origin of the emission, including natural and human-made sources.