Adapted by:
Miguel Jorge
WriterJournalist. I've spent more than half of my life writing about technology, science, and culture. Before landing here, I worked at Telefónica, Prisa, Globus Comunicación, Hipertextual, and Gizmodo. I'm part of Webedia's cross-section team.
Alba Mora
WriterAn established tech journalist, I entered the world of consumer tech by chance in 2018. In my writing and translating career, I've also covered a diverse range of topics, including entertainment, travel, science, and the economy.
The biggest space news this year so far centers around one name: the asteroid 2024 YR4, which is increasingly likely to impact Earth. However, fascinating events continue to unfold thousands of miles from our planet. Notably, X-ray telescopes recently revealed a superstructure that’s more than a billion years old. In addition, astronomers have spent the past five years investigating a mysterious television signal emanating from space. The mystery has finally been solved.
The mysterious signal. For the last five years, astronomers analyzing data from the Murchison Widefield Array radio telescope in Western Australia have encountered an unexpected phenomenon: a TV signal from the sky. The telescope is situated in a radio silence zone, designed to eliminate human interference in radio astronomy. As such, the detection of this signal is particularly puzzling for scientists.
Even more perplexing was the fact that the signal appeared to move across the sky. This led to speculations ranging from reflections of our own transmissions to theories about extraterrestrial activity.
In the end, as is often the case in science, the answer was simpler than expected.
The discovery: airplanes. The turning point came when Jonathan Pober, a physicist at Brown University, had a revelation: “We said, ‘I bet the signal is reflecting off an airplane.’” While this hypothesis had been suggested previously, it had never been confirmed.
To test this theory, the research team employed advanced signal processing techniques, including near-field corrections and beamforming, to better focus on nearby sources of interference. The analysis revealed that the reflected signal corresponded to the frequency band of Channel 7, an Australian digital television station.
Perhaps more importantly, calculations of the reflecting object’s altitude and speed indicated that it was an aircraft in cruise phase, flying at an altitude of 7.27 miles and a speed of 492 mph. These measurements are consistent with the typical characteristics of a commercial flight.
A challenge for astronomy. The recent study highlights a significant issue for astronomers: interference from TV signals. This interference can contaminate data, forcing scientists to discard valuable information. Jade Ducharme from Brown University explains, “It ends up being insane amounts of data being thrown out to not have any part of the observation contaminated.”
When a TV signal reflects off an aircraft, it becomes superimposed on the cosmic waves that astronomers are trying to analyze. As a result, extensive observations may need to be discarded. The study’s findings are crucial for developing methods to remove this interference, allowing researchers to filter out these reflections without losing important astronomical data. However, the issue extends beyond aircraft. Satellites in orbit pose an even greater threat to astronomical observations.
Are we too noisy on Earth for astronomy? That’s the pressing question raised by recent findings. The number of satellites in orbit continues to rise, worsening the issue of radio interference. Although scientists are improving data filtering techniques, some experts are beginning to doubt whether Earth is still a suitable location for radio astronomy. According to Pober, “If we can’t find a quiet sky on Earth, maybe Earth isn’t the place to be.”
In light of this, some astronomers are exploring the possibility of relocating radio astronomy to space. They propose installing telescopes on the far side of the Moon, where interference from Earth would be minimal. In this context, Pober and his team’s findings not only resolve a five-year mystery but also represent a significant step toward preserving radio astronomy in an age of growing concern about electromagnetic pollution. As technology advances, the battle between cosmic exploration and human-generated signals could shape the future of astronomy.
Unfortunately for UFO enthusiasts, no one was watching TV in space.
Image | Nathan Anderson
Log in to leave a comment