The S.E.T.I. ( Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence ) project was officially born on February 1, 1985.

It is the culmination of various research and studies aimed at searching for life in the universe.

The search takes place through radio telescopes that collect radio signals from space with a frequency between 1420.356 MHz and 1420.456 MHz, both very close to the frequency of the hydrogen 21 cm line.

These signals, sent on a precise band, can be considered as the presence of an extraterrestrial intelligence.

In 1977, the media sensation aroused the reception of a 72-second signal that went down in history as the "WOW!" message.

The signal was detected by astronomer Jerry Ehman at about 11:16 p.m. Eastern Daylight Savings Time on August 15, 1977 by the Ohio University Big Ear radio telescope

The astronomers of the S.E.T.I. with their telescopes, do not receive sounds (contrary to what is seen in movies), their intensity as numerical signals.

The value 1 records the background noise of the universe probably created by the original Big Bang.

The values (from 1 to 9 and from A to Z) indicate an intensity probably linked to an intelligent transmission.

The signal came from the constellation of Sagittarius, from a star called 2MASS 19281982-2640123 which is 1800 light years away from the earth.

Astronomers around the world use radio telescopes to observe the naturally occurring radiowaves that come from stars, planets, galaxies, clouds of dust, and molecules of gas.

Most of us are familiar with visible-light astronomy and what it reveals about these objects. Visible ” light — also known as optical light — is what we see with our eyes, however, visible light doesn’t tell the whole story about an object.

To get a complete understanding of a distant quasar or a planet, for example, astronomers study it in as many wavelengths as possible, including the radio range.

There’s a hidden universe out there, radiating at wavelengths and frequencies we can’t see with our eyes.

Each object in the cosmos gives off unique patterns of radio emissions that allow astronomers to get the whole picture of a distant object.

Radio astronomers study emissions from gas giant planets, blasts from the hearts of galaxies, or even precisely ticking signals from a dying star.

Today, radio astronomy is a major branch of astronomy and reveals otherwise-hidden characteristics of everything in the universe.