In the Marvel Comic Universe, Galactus is a god-like creature that drains energy from entire planets. Crazy, I know. I mean, as if there’s something out there in space that eats planets. Some kind of giant creature, roaming through the cosmos, devouring interstellar bodies of life.
That thing can’t exist… right?
Right?
Uh… well…
The space roar is a radio signal from outer space. Discovered by NASA’s Alan Kogut and his team, the announcement was made at the 213th meeting of the American Astronomical Society on January 7, 2009. Described as a loud hiss, the team discovered the signal while trying to find traces of heat from first generation stars using an ARCADE radiometer. This instrument is designed to detect radiation at centimeter wavelengths. Though signals from radio galaxies have been detected before, the “space roar” sounds six times louder than what is predicted from those sources. Scientists have yet to explain its source. NASA scientists have currently ruled out primordial stars and all other known radio sources. The roar currently limits the study of the universe’s earliest stars. In 2011, the ARCADE 2 researchers reported, “Correcting for instrumental systematic errors in measurements such as ARCADE 2 is always a primary concern. We emphasize that we detect residual emission at 3 GHz with the ARCADE 2 data, but the result is also independently detected by a combination of low-frequency data and FIRAS.”
The way I see it, if everyone on the planet turns off their lights, whatever is roaring out there will just fly right by us. But just in case, I’ll be contacting Captain America and the Hulk to go on stand-by. It can’t hurt to give the Avengers a heads-up.
Alex Creed 