Webb finds molecule only made by living things in another world::undefined

    • ShittyBeatlesFCPres@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Sigma is basically a representation of certainty that your result isn’t a statistical fluke. It comes from standard deviation in statistics but 1 sigma is 68% certain. 2 sigma is 95%. 3 sigma is 99.7%.

      By convention, astronomy uses 3 sigma for “significance,” meaning you almost definitely found something. Particle physics, since it’s usually done in controlled experiments, usually requires 5 sigma (99.99994%).

      It’s similar to margin of error in political polls.

    • FrostyCaveman@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      It’s a number that statistically represents how strong the result is in the data basically. As far as I understand it, with astronomy the typical sigma value expected is 3