An ATA Search for a Repetition of the Wow Signal

Abstract

Abstract The Allen Telescope Array was used to search for signals with characteristics similar to the “Wow” signal, the best candidate for an extraterrestrial radio signal found during Ohio State University’s (OSU’s) seven-year 21 cm 10-kHz channel sky survey for signals possibly due to extraterrestrial intelligence. While previous follow-up searches have reported null results, our observations covered a 5 deg2 field of view that extends well beyond the locus of all consistent directions of arrival (DOAs) of the original signal, and covered a 10 MHz bandwidth four times wider than the widest prior follow-up observations, using 12.8 kHz channels approximating OSU’s 10 kHz resolution. Approximately 100 hours of data were accumulated, considerably more time than any previous follow-up campaigns. We used interferometric imaging with an angular resolution of approximately 007 and automated feature-finding to search for point-like features mimicking a Wow repetition, obtaining single-channel sensitivity of ∼1.2 Jy for one minute averages. This allows identification of the DOA of a very brief repetition, with strong discrimination from radio interference, and eliminates the usual constraint that the signal must persist for long periods of time (around one hour) before the true DOA can be verified (because interfering signals from the horizon sometimes masquerade as coming from the look direction). No point-like features significantly exceeding the noise were found inside the full width at half maximum of the OSU fields of view, although one 26σ point-like feature was detected during one 10 second integration about 1/3° away.