The WOW Message Makes Sense!

[Willem F Esterhuyse]

The WOW message reads: "6EQUJ5". We can take EQU to mean "=". Then "J" can be taken as the symbol for "successor of" (aliens would have a different symbol than ours). Then the message reads: "6 = S5", so it makes sense!

[Ghideon]

1 hour ago, Willem F Esterhuyse said:

The WOW message reads: "6EQUJ5".

I think you have misinterpreted the representation of the signal's intensity.  

 

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The string 6EQUJ5, commonly misinterpreted as a message encoded in the radio signal, represents in fact the signal's intensity variation over time, expressed in the particular measuring system adopted for the experiment. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wow!_signal

 

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According to science writer Michael Brooks in his book 13 Things That Don't Make Sense, "The letters and numbers are, essentially, a measure of the intensity of the electromagnetic signal as it hit the receiver. Low power was recorded with numbers 0 to 9; as power got higher, the computer used letters: 10 was A, 11 was B and so on." 

https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2010/05/28/126510251/aliens-found-in-ohio-the-wow-signal

[Willem F Esterhuyse]

8 minutes ago, Ghideon said:

The string 6EQUJ5, commonly misinterpreted as a message encoded in the radio signal, represents in fact the signal's intensity variation over time, expressed in the particular measuring system adopted for the experiment. 

So the message could be encoded in the intensity.

[Ghideon]

52 minutes ago, Willem F Esterhuyse said:

So the message could be encoded in the intensity.

How?

The intensity, as far as I know, is due to the construction of the measurement equipment, not properties of the source of the signal. 

 

[Willem F Esterhuyse]

4 hours ago, Ghideon said:

How?

The intensity, as far as I know, is due to the construction of the measurement equipment

If they knew about the construction details through telepathic means.

[dimreepr]

32 minutes ago, Willem F Esterhuyse said:

If they knew about the construction details through telepathic means.

Then they're witches, and they'd weigh the same as a duck; so we can drown them...

[TheVat]

7 hours ago, Willem F Esterhuyse said:

So the message could be encoded in the intensity.

There was no evidence of any amplitude modulation.  The change in intensity resulted from the Earth's rotation.  Try to keep up.  

It's like having a fixed metal detector and a person with keys in their pocket strolls slowly by.   For 72 seconds, they're in the detector's range and the "mmrreeep!" sound peaks as they are directly in front of it right in the middle of those 72 seconds.  The Q and the U which represent the highest intensities are in the middle of the string.  

[Ghideon]

2 hours ago, Willem F Esterhuyse said:

If they knew about the construction details through telepathic means.

If the "wow-signal" is the best they came up with having such formidable powers then I'm very unimpressed. I'll wait for something more intelligent to be communicated before investing more time in their signals.

 

 

 

[joigus]

Apparently this advanced civilisation will spare no effort in telling the universe about the big news: Six is next to five.

1 hour ago, TheVat said:

There was no evidence of any amplitude modulation.  The change in intensity resulted from the Earth's rotation.  Try to keep up.  

It's like having a fixed metal detector and a person with keys in their pocket strolls slowly by.   For 72 seconds, they're in the detector's range and the "mmrreeep!" sound peaks as they are directly in front of it right in the middle of those 72 seconds.  The Q and the U which represent the highest intensities are in the middle of the string.  

Exactly what I noticed: low intensity-peak-low intensity.

[TheVat]

Jill Tarter and pals went looking for another incidence of the WOW signal a couple years ago.  Nada.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/aba58f

If you find the jargon fairly bruising, skip down to section five, their conclusions.  If you're curious what the strength is of signals encountered in radio astronomy, that Jy unit they mention is a Jansky, which is 10-26 Watts Metre-2 Hertz-1.  It's common use is for point sources, so it's the metric of choice in SETI.  (it's obtained by integrating over the source solid angle, so things are simpler with a point)

 

 

Edited October 31, 2022 by TheVat
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