Submission + - 17 Year Old Radio Astronomy Mystery Traced Back to Kitchen Microwave (bbc.com)
Bo'Bob'O writes: The BBC reports that the scientists at the Parkes and Bleien Radio Observatories in New South Whales, Australia, have tracked down an earth-based signals that had been eluding observation for 17 years. These signals, which came to be called Perytons “occurred only during office hours and predominantly on weekdays.” The source, as it turned out, was located right inside the antenna's tower where impatient scientists had been opening the kitchen microwave door before its cycle had finished. As the linked paper concludes, this, and a worn magnetron caused a condition that allowed the microwaves to emit a burst of frequencies not expected by the scientists, only compounding the original mystery.
