When the Big Ear Radio Telescope in Delaware, Ohio, was disassembled in 1998 having operated for over 30 years, it was replaced by a golf course. Big Ear was never the world’s biggest radio telescope, nor its most sensitive. But Big Ear nevertheless made one of the most famous observations in the history of astronomy, one that till this day has never been explained.

Throughout the 1970s, Big Ear searched for signals from extraterrestrial civilizations. And on Aug. 15, 1977, it found one — a strong, intermittent signal lasting for 72 seconds, that stood out from the background noise like a searchlight.

The team quickly ruled out a terrestrial origin or a broadcast from a satellite. Nevertheless, the signal was so powerful and unusual that Jerry Ehman, the astronomer who analyzed the data print out, annotated the signal with the word “Wow!”.

The director of the observatory, John Kraus, later gave a detailed account of the observation: “The WoW” signal is highly suggestive of extraterrestrial intelligent origin, but little more can be said until it returns for further study,” he wrote, in a letter to the astronomer Carl Sagan.

The Big Ear team continued to observe the same part of the sky, as have others, but the Wow! signal never returned. Nor has anything like it been observed in any other part of the sky.

Kraus and others have even searched for stars that could be the source of the signal: “We checked star catalogs for any sun-like stars in the area and found none,” wrote Kraus. To this day, the Wow! signal remains unexplained and unrepeated.

Which is why the discovery this week of a potential source is significant news. The finding is the result of some clever sleuthing by an amateur astronomer and the creation of a fabulous new 3D map of the galaxy.

First, some background. Back in 2013, the European Space Agency launched the Gaia space observatory to map the night sky — to determine the position, the distance, and the motion of stars with unprecedented accuracy. So far, Gaia has mapped some 1.3 billion stars, allowing astronomers to begin creating the most detailed 3D map ever made of our galaxy. The mission is expected to continue until 2024.

Gaia’s new star map has significantly improved our understanding of the galaxy and the stars within it and this gave amateur astronomer Alberto Caballero an idea. The Gaia database is now significantly more detailed than the star catalog that John Kraus studied in the 1970s. Perhaps the new database might reveal the source of the Wow! signal, he reasoned.

So Caballero repeated the search, looking for Sun-like stars among the thousands that have been identified by Gaia in this region of the sky. By Sun-like, he means stars that share the same temperature, radius and luminosity .

The search returned just one candidate. “The only potential Sun-like star in all the WOW! Signal region appears to be 2MASS 19281982-2640123,” says Caballero. This star sits in the constellation of Sagittarius at a distance of 1800 light-years. It is an identical twin to our Sun, with the same temperature, radius, and luminosity.

Of course, Caballero’s work does not mean that 2MASS 19281982-2640123 must have been the source. He points out that there are many stars in that region of the sky that are too dim to be included in the catalog. One of these could be the source.

And there are some 66 other stars in the catalog that Caballero identified as potential candidates but with less strong evidence. These match the Sun’s temperature but data about their luminosity and radius is currently incomplete. So future data releases from Gaia and other mapping projects might yet reveal them as matches.

But for the moment, 2MASS 19281982-2640123 is our best bet and a good candidate for future study. Caballero says an obvious goal would be to look for signs of exoplanets orbiting this star. It could also be prioritized for study in the radio part of the spectrum.

In the meantime, astronomers might amuse themselves by finding a friendlier name for 2MASS 19281982-2640123. Perhaps during a round of golf on the course that now sits on the site of the Big Ear radio observatory.

Source: Discover Magazine
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/sun-like-star-identified-as
-the-potential-source-of-the-wow-signal

One of the most talked about mysteries in Gwanda Town, Zimbabwe is of a mysterious creature which reportedly lies hidden in Mtshabezi River near Mtshabezi Bridge that is said to have claimed the lives of a number of men.

This mysterious being is blamed for a number of drowning accidents. According to residents from Gwanda Town the target of this creature has of late become men that go to the river to bathe.

Some think that the creature could be a mermaid while others think otherwise saying its mannerisms do not fit those of a mermaid. Some residents from the town working with some churches have decided to engage the services of a prophet to unravel the mystery.

Efforts are underway to engage a Gwanda based prophet from the Zion Apostolic Church in Central Africa, Prophet Mehluli Moyo who is known for solving a number of mysteries in Matabeleland South Province, mostly in Gwanda District.

Gogo Meltah Banda, who is the Gwanda Zinatha treasurer said the problem which was being experienced at Mtshabezi River started in the 1970s with school pupils that were mysteriously drowning in the river.

"This problem has been ongoing since the 1970s," Gogo Meltah Banda said.

"At that time, pupils from Mount Cazalet Primary School which is close to Mtshabezi River used to go there to collect water as the school didn't have running water. While there, students would claim to have seen a fish in the water and then later they would be found drowned. We used to get these reports from other students who would survive the ordeal and then go back to school to inform their teachers, she said."

"Now it's suspected that this creature is targeting men that are bathing in the river. Each time someone drowns, there
are usually a series of funerals which follow which are recorded in the town. It's like the drowning incidents have sparked or ignited some evil spirit which hovers around the town."

Gogo Banda said what made the drowning cases suspicious was that all victims were men. She said the river is not that deep, which made it difficult to understand how a grown-up man could drown while bathing close to the edge of the river.

She said bodies of all the victims were later retrieved which ruled out chances that the creature was a mermaid. She said there was need to investigate the matter so that it could be resolved once and for all as it was bothering residents.

"The way this creature operates is beyond my knowledge. What we are used to are incidents where a person disappears in a river because of an ancestral calling but a person doesn't die. A ritual is conducted by the family of the missing person and the person comes back to them alive.

"In this particular case where people die mysteriously, I also don't know what kind of ancestral spirit operates in this way," she said.

A Gwanda pastor from the Zion Apostolic Church in Central Africa Michael Ndlovu said when he arrived in Gwanda in the 1980s, he found residents complaining about mysterious deaths along the river. He said this year about three people had mysteriously drowned in the river.

Pastor Ndlovu said they had resolved to invite a renowned prophet from his church to look into the matter.

"There are men who are mostly gold panners from nearby mines who go to take a bath along Mtshabezi River just close to Mtshabezi Bridge. Other people go to the river to collect water or to wash their vehicles. A number of them have fallen victim to this creature.

"We have therefore seen it best to engage someone to look into the matter and see how best it can be resolved. We are working on modalities to invite a prophet from my church who has helped a number of communities to deal with their spiritual problems.

"We have to go through the correct procedures and inform the relevant authorities," he said.

Prophet Moyo said he would visit the area and pray so that the Holy Spirit would reveal whether it was an ancestral matter or an act of witchcraft. He said from there he would be informed on how to proceed with the matter.

Prophet Moyo said if it was an act of witchcraft then he could remove the creature and if it was an ancestral issue then appropriate people will be engaged to conduct a ritual to appease the ancestors. He said from there a ritual will be expected to be conducted once a year with the knowledge of the town's leadership.

"What is puzzling is that even though people are aware that place is dangerous and has claimed a number of lives they still go back knowing the danger which may befall them.

"Whatever is in the water could be luring people there in order to take lives. If it's an act of witchcraft it could be the doing of an evil person who planted something in the water in order to gain wealth in exchange for human lives," he said.

"This mystery has never been investigated thoroughly. Every time someone drowns people call for the matter to be investigated but after a short time they relax. If given an opportunity I can get to the bottom of this matter."

Prophet Moyo said he once intervened in Halale Primary School in Nathisa area in Kezi where goblins were terrorising teachers and since he removed them, he had not received any complaints from the school.

He said he also assisted the community of Garanyemba where he removed a big snake from a dam where people were mysteriously drowning. Prophet Moyo said he also recently assisted at Mtandawenema Primary School in Gwanda where a baboon was terrorising teachers and learners. He said he had also cleansed several homesteads in Gwanda.

Source: Newsdzezimbabwe
http://www.newsdzezimbabwe.co.uk/2020/11/bridge-mystery-prophet-brought-in.html