Editing Wow! signal (section)

=== Time variation ===
At the time of the observation, the Big Ear radio telescope was only adjustable for [[Horizontal coordinate system|altitude]] (or height above the horizon), and relied on the [[rotation of the Earth]] to scan across the sky. Given the speed of Earth's rotation and the spatial width of the telescope's observation window, the Big Ear could observe any given point for just 72 seconds.<ref name="Skeptoid">{{Skeptoid |id=4342 |number=342 |title=Was the Wow! Signal Alien? |date=December 25, 2012 |access-date=October 8, 2016}}</ref> A continuous extraterrestrial signal, therefore, would be expected to register for exactly 72 seconds, and the recorded intensity of such signal would display a gradual increase for the first 36 seconds—peaking at the center of the observation window—and then a gradual decrease as the telescope moved away from it. All these characteristics are present in the Wow! signal.<ref name="edn">{{Cite web |last=Deffree |first=Suzanne |date=August 15, 2019 |title=Big Ear receives 'Wow! Signal,' August 15, 1977 |url=http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/edn-moments/4394137/Big-Ear-receives--Wow--Signal--August-15--1977 |access-date=July 2, 2016 |website=EDN Moments}}</ref><ref name="space_com">{{Cite news |last=Shostak |first=Seth |date=December 5, 2002 |title=Interstellar Signal From the 70s Continues to Puzzle Researchers |url=http://www.bigear.org/shostak_wow_20021205.htm |access-date=July 2, 2016 |work=Space.com}}</ref>