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Space
Space
Science
Keith Cooper

Astronomers realize mysterious TV signal in their data bounced off an airplane

A white contraption stands on the ground surrounded by many others. It has four straight legs attached to a central cylinder by three support struts each.

The sky is awash with radio-frequency interference (RFI), but thanks to two astronomers who tracked down a stray TV broadcast reflected off a passing airplane, there may be a new way to wipe out some of the rogue signals that plague our radio telescopes.

"Astronomy is facing an existential crisis," said Jonathan Pober of Brown University, Rhode Island, USA, in a statement.

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