While the astronomers at the Parkes observatory in New South Wales spent years figuring out the mysterious signals their telescope picked, it turns out it was their staff kitchen microwave that was sending them.
Once or twice a year since 1998, the telescope, called The Dish, had been picking up the signals, which were known as perytons, described as "millisecond-duration transients of terrestrial origin," the Guardian reported.
For around 17 years, the scientists thought that they were linked to atmospheric activity such as lightning strikes, until they installed a new receiver to monitor interference this year, which finally found the culprit. A microwave.
The signals at 2.4 GHz within 5 kilometers were being created when the employees heated up their lunches in the observatory's kitchen, and Simon Johnston, head of astrophysics at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), explained that when the microwave door is opened while it is still heating, it generates interference.
To astronomers are now building a new telescope, the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), which is scheduled to be completed in 2016.
