London - For years, the strange signals on the telescope had baffled astronomers.
They thought the unexplained radio waves could have come from a giant celestial flare, an imploding star – or even an alien civilisation. But the reality is a little bit more down to earth…quite literally.
A team monitoring a 210ft Australian radio telescope discovered the signals were actually caused by a microwave oven in the room next door being opened while switched on.
Emily Petroff, an astrophysics student working at Parkes Observatory in New South Wales, began investigating the “galactic” signals, known as perytons, after becoming intrigued by the mystery.
Suspicion fell on the microwave when staff noticed the signals were only detected during the centre’s opening hours.
The timing also appeared to coincide with when many of the staff wanted to heat up their lunch. The microwave was next door in the staff kitchen and visitors’ centre at the observatory.
Researchers were able to replicate the radio wave bursts by opening the microwave door while the device was still running.
“It was kind of a surprise to all of us,” Miss Petroff, from Swinburne University in Melbourne, told ABC News.
“It turns out that you can generate these … signals by opening the door of the microwave to stop the microwave, and that produces these weird bursts.”
Daily Mail