All radio emissions detected were within 1° (60 arcminutes) of the known celestial coordinates of the comet as it transited the neighborhood of the "Wow!" Signal. The investigation discovered that comet 266/P Christensen emitted a radio signal at 1420.25 MHz. From 27 November 2016 to 24 February 2017, the Center for Planetary Science conducted 200 observations in the radio spectrum to validate the hypothesis. In 2016, the Center for Planetary Science proposed a hypothesis arguing a comet and/or its hydrogen cloud were a strong candidate for the source of the "Wow!" Signal. Hydrogen Line Observations of Cometary Spectra at 1420 MHZ, Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, /research/the-wow-signal/ ( Paper PDF) The team then got a chance to test their idea as the two comets appeared once again in the night sky from November 2016 through February of 2017. Those comets, P/2008 Y2(Gibbs) and 266/P Christensen had not yet been discovered. The team noted that two comets had been in the same part of the sky that the Big Ear was monitoring on the fateful day. The explanation started to come into focus last year when a team at the CPS suggested that the signal might have come from a hydrogen cloud accompanying a comet-additionally, the movement of the comet would explain why the signal was not seen again. It was noted that the frequency was transmitted at 1,420 MHz, though, which happens to be the same frequency as hydrogen. Some outside the science community even suggested that it was proof of aliens. Possible sources such as asteroids, exo-planets, stars and even signals from Earth have all been ruled out. Since that time, numerous scientists have searched for an explanation of the signal, but until now, no one could offer a valid argument. Back in August of 1977, a team of astronomers studying radio transmissions from an observatory at Ohio State called the "Big Ear" recorded an unusual 72-second signal-it was so strong that team member Jerry Ehman scrawled "Wow!" next to the readout.
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