Not By Chance!. Ranko J.D. Skoric

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      National Research Council of Canada

      Fig. 1 – The Algonquin Radio Telescope, Largest in Canada

      This 150-foot metal antenna, part of the largest radio receiver in Canada, was built in 1966, just one year before the author’s arrival over the “big pond”. It is situated on the shores of Lake Traverse, a small body of water deep in the impenetrable forests of northern Ontario. It is not a coincidence that this radio observatory is located in such dense wilderness. The reason is purely technical in nature. Sensitive radio telescopes that constantly listen for radio waves from distant stars must not be disturbed by signals originating from human activity. Their delicate electronic “ear” would easily pick up random electrical noise from ordinary household appliances, such as turning the lights on or off, switching of electric heaters, hair dryers etc. This is the reason that for hundreds of kilometres around the observatory there are no human dwellings, forestry camps, or even visitors, except, of course, for the bears and wolves. For similar reasons, even optical observatories are now being built far from human settlements and their “light pollution”. One example of this problem can be seen in the fact the powerful telescope on the roof of the Astronomy Department of the University of Toronto has been rendered almost useless as it languishes in its dome, being almost totally paralyzed by the glare of dazzling artificial light produced by this largest Canadian city, as one can hardly see one single star on Toronto’s illuminated night sky. The problem is exacerbated by occurrences of urban smog, which can create a luminous cloud over the entire metropolis, and reflect the city’s lights back to the ground.

      Using the same principle that allows a person to hear better with two ears than with one, the Algonquin radio telescope is sometimes electronically linked with a similar dish located in the Rocky Mountains, near Vancouver on Canada’s Pacific coast. By combining their receiving powers, these two radio telescopes can detect even those faint signals which one dish alone would not be able to “hear”.

      The Algonquin radio telescope became operational just in time for the discovery of pulsars - those mysterious cosmic bodies that have been found to emit incredibly regular radio signals. Given that remarkable regularity, it is not surprising that initial theories included the thought that some distant civilization was trying to contact us. However, subsequent scanning of the sky found dozens of similar sources of radio waves at widely different points of the sky. Before long, new hypotheses were put forth, all attempting to conceive and explain the strange physical processes that might cause these stars to generate precise and regular radio signals, and speculation about bizzare aliens with big heads operating radio transmitters pointed toward Earth soon fell into disfavour – except, of course, in certain check-out tabloids….

      Several hundred kilometres from the Algonquin Radio Observatory, deep inside the Algonquin National Park, a fascinating and compelling event takes place on a certain day each August. Of interesting note for those who never had the opportunity to experience the breathtaking vastness of the country, Canadian parks can be greater than some European countries, and becoming lost in such a huge wilderness has occasionally resulted in tragedy. There in Algonquin, in the twilight of that August day, a long column of cars carrying curious tourists drive into the forest to a particular point on the road, where they silently park, and switch off engines and lights. As nightfall’s shadow settles over the land, Park officials then turn toward the darkened forest and begin to utter an eerie simulation of a wolfs’ call. Almost immediately, the calls are answered from the deep ravines and dense woodlands, as hundreds of wolves raise their muzzles to the night sky, lifting their voices in a wild chorus that freezes the blood of all who hear. Sinister and magnificent, the song of the wolves echoes on, an unforgettable night concert that cannot fail to inspire awe of the Canadian wilderness and its dangerous inhabitants.