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> The Wow! Signal was detected at 1420MHz, which is the radio frequency hydrogen naturally emits. What does mean? Hydrogen (and presumably other gasses) just
by michaelcampbell 9y ago
> The Wow! Signal was detected at 1420MHz, which is the radio frequency hydrogen naturally emits.
What does mean? Hydrogen (and presumably other gasses) just spontaneously emit EMR at some specific frequency?
- greglindahl 9y agoYes. This particular line is the spin flip transition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_line https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_line and is low enough energy that cool clouds of molecular hydrogen emit it. And that's why radio astronomers frequently observe at this frequency.
- michaelcampbell 9y agoHuh, thanks. Today I learned...