An approximation to determine the source of the WOW! Signal

TL;DR

This study identifies the most likely star source of the WOW! Signal among 66 G and K-type stars, highlighting a prime candidate for further observation in the search for habitable exoplanets.

Contribution

It introduces a method to narrow down potential star sources of the WOW! Signal using Gaia data, identifying a prime Sun-like candidate for follow-up studies.

Findings

One star, 2MASS 19281982-2640123, is identified as the most probable source.

Two additional stars have luminosity estimates consistent with the Sun.

Fourteen other candidates are potential Sun-like stars with unknown luminosity data.

Abstract

In this paper it is analysed which of the thousands of stars in the WOW! Signal region could have the highest chance of being the real source of the signal, providing that it came from a star system similar to ours. A total of 66 G and K-type stars are sampled, but only one of them is identified as a potential Sun-like star considering the available information in the Gaia Archive. This candidate source, which is named 2MASS 19281982-2640123, therefore becomes an ideal target to conduct observations in the search for potentially habitable exoplanets. Another two candidate stars have a luminosity error interval that includes the luminosity of the Sun, and 14 candidates more are also identified as potential Sun-like stars, but the estimations on their luminosity were unknown.