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Amateur astronomer Alberto Caballero finds possible source of Wow signal

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Re: Amateur astronomer Alberto Caballero finds possible source of Wow signal

#21

Post by Uehreka »

partisan wrote: post #11
mellosouls wrote: post #7

I've only read the article and not the research but that's because the article says the argument is simply: 1. The Wow! signal is intelligent in origin. 2. This exoplanet system here is in an area the signal might have come from. 3. It looks a bit like our system so might have intelligent life. This sounds like more of a moonshot for believers rather than a thoroughly scientific investigation.

I found this article frustrating to read because of the lack of details, explanation, or attempts to educate the reader. Overall, it is just the reporting of speculation and nothing more. That said, I wonder if this is the type of news source we need. Anyone who wants further details can and should research the topic before drawing conclusions like the pre-baked ones we usually receive from our news sources.

Nah, I feel like “sources or GTFO”. If an article has a source then you can at least evaluate the claims yourself. But if the article is vague and doesn’t cite, then you have to look through science news or journals for things that “look like” they could’ve prompted the article, but you can’t be sure if you’ve found the actual source (which may be more or less substantive than the thing you do find).

Re: Amateur astronomer Alberto Caballero finds possible source of Wow signal

#22

Post by thesuitonym »

Uehreka wrote: post #21
partisan wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found this article frustrating to read because of the lack of details, explanation, or attempts to educate the reader. Overall, it is just the reporting of speculation and nothing more. That said, I wonder if this is the type of news source we need. Anyone who wants further details can and should research the topic before drawing conclusions like the pre-baked ones we usually receive from our news sources.

Nah, I feel like “sources or GTFO”. If an article has a source then you can at least evaluate the claims yourself. But if the article is vague and doesn’t cite, then you have to look through science news or journals for things that “look like” they could’ve prompted the article, but you can’t be sure if you’ve found the actual source (which may be more or less substantive than the thing you do find).

>In his[Alberto Caballero] paper uploaded to the arXiv preprint server

That looks like a citation to me. This isn't a defense of the article, which is bad for a variety of reasons. I'm just saying let's stick to what's true, rather than pretending they didn't cite a source just because they didn't have a hyperlink.

Re: Amateur astronomer Alberto Caballero finds possible source of Wow signal

#23

Post by carlmr »

smoyer wrote: post #13

"Located in the right part of the sky" ... even one degree of horizon represents a huge area and the researcher admits that there are other targets in the area. I'd argue that the premise that the signal comes from an earth-like planet isn't even scientifically valid. Who says other life-forms are most likely to form on in an earth-like environment? Isn't that currently a sample size of one? Does life need a planet t…

I think there may be a probabilistic argument for some of these points.

While a sample size of one is not much, it's more than none. We know we have life on our planet, so we know it's possible in an earth like environment. So the only evidence we have points to earth like planets being more likely.

The interstellar space craft is of course possible, but since we don't have any ourselves, but we have radio for a while now, it seems more likely that the signal originated from a planet, since the interstellar space craft is much more complex technology for which we don't have evidence yet.

Re: Amateur astronomer Alberto Caballero finds possible source of Wow signal

#24

Post by benpanter »

thesuitonym wrote: post #22
Uehreka wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah, I feel like “sources or GTFO”. If an article has a source then you can at least evaluate the claims yourself. But if the article is vague and doesn’t cite, then you have to look through science news or journals for things that “look like” they could’ve prompted the article, but you can’t be sure if you’ve found the actual source (which may be more or less substantive than the thing you do find).

>In his[Alberto Caballero] paper uploaded to the arXiv preprint server That looks like a citation to me. This isn't a defense of the article, which is bad for a variety of reasons. I'm just saying let's stick to what's true, rather than pretending they didn't cite a source just because they didn't have a hyperlink.

The "paper" is here: https://arxiv.org/abs/2011.06090 but its analysis is not really something that you'd get published in an astronomy journal [speaking as a former professional astronomer]

Re: Amateur astronomer Alberto Caballero finds possible source of Wow signal

#25

Post by monkpit »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #15

I think some posters here are missing that Caballero isn't trying to prove anything, they just made a few assumptions (if it was created by intelligent life, then...), looked for something that matched those assumptions, and selected a candidate star system for further consideration. I don't see anywhere that they are claiming this is in any way evidence for the assertion that the Wow! signal originated by intelligen…

I think part of the issue is that the title is a bit clickbait-y. Sure, it’s technically a correct title, but at first glance it seems much more interesting than it actually is.

Re: Amateur astronomer Alberto Caballero finds possible source of Wow signal

#26

Post by dnautics »

monkpit wrote: post #25
AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #15

I think some posters here are missing that Caballero isn't trying to prove anything, they just made a few assumptions (if it was created by intelligent life, then...), looked for something that matched those assumptions, and selected a candidate star system for further consideration. I don't see anywhere that they are claiming this is in any way evidence for the assertion that the Wow! signal originated by intelligen…

I think part of the issue is that the title is a bit clickbait-y. Sure, it’s technically a correct title, but at first glance it seems much more interesting than it actually is.

How would you fix it? "Astronomer finds an exoplanet which fits exclusion criteria if WOW! Signal is intelligent in origin"?

Re: Amateur astronomer Alberto Caballero finds possible source of Wow signal

#27

Post by marcosdumay »

thesuitonym wrote: post #22
Uehreka wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah, I feel like “sources or GTFO”. If an article has a source then you can at least evaluate the claims yourself. But if the article is vague and doesn’t cite, then you have to look through science news or journals for things that “look like” they could’ve prompted the article, but you can’t be sure if you’ve found the actual source (which may be more or less substantive than the thing you do find).

>In his[Alberto Caballero] paper uploaded to the arXiv preprint server That looks like a citation to me. This isn't a defense of the article, which is bad for a variety of reasons. I'm just saying let's stick to what's true, rather than pretending they didn't cite a source just because they didn't have a hyperlink.

It's missing a link. The article directly references a paper, but gives no way to unambiguously locate it. That's not a source, it's an open invitation to research.

Re: Amateur astronomer Alberto Caballero finds possible source of Wow signal

#28

Post by partisan »

benpanter wrote: post #24
thesuitonym wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>In his[Alberto Caballero] paper uploaded to the arXiv preprint server That looks like a citation to me. This isn't a defense of the article, which is bad for a variety of reasons. I'm just saying let's stick to what's true, rather than pretending they didn't cite a source just because they didn't have a hyperlink.

The "paper" is here: https://arxiv.org/abs/2011.06090 but its analysis is not really something that you'd get published in an astronomy journal [speaking as a former professional astronomer]

Sorry to pry, but what does one do after a professional astronomy career?

Re: Amateur astronomer Alberto Caballero finds possible source of Wow signal

#29

Post by imglorp »

anonymousiam wrote: post #17

Wouldn't the power at the source of such a signal be so great as to cause harm to nearby life? If the "wow" signal actually originated from 2MASS 19281982-2640123, whatever life that may have been there is now probably gone.

2MASS 19281982-2640123 is 1800 light years away. Eh, maybe if ET has solved war and politics, they're still there. But it also implies WOW was not a response to our RF emissions, which are reaching at most 130 LY out today. This raises other questions. Were they broadcasting to every habitable planet in sight? We did that briefly.

Re: Amateur astronomer Alberto Caballero finds possible source of Wow signal

#30

Post by prewett »

geocrasher wrote: post #18

And just three years ago somebody said with the same amount of confidence that it was a comet: https://phys.org/news/2017-06-wow-mystery-space.html I think that if a person goes looking hard enough for the answer they want, they'll find it.

At least the comet hypothesis has some actual data to back it up, and the data matches the Wow! data. This current one assumes the signal must be from intelligent life and found a candidate that might possibly have intelligent life that might possibly have caused the Wow! signal, with no explanation for why said (possibly existing) intelligent life has not caused any additional signals since then. At least the comet explanation offers an explanation that fits the facts.
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