Unlocking the Milky Way: Two Fascinating Accidental Discoveries That Changed Our Understanding

Ken Tapping works as an astronomer at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory. He studies the fascinating world of radio astronomy, which has yielded some surprising discoveries over the years.

Two significant breakthroughs in radio astronomy were made quite by accident, and interestingly, both were by engineers rather than professional astronomers. Back in the 1930s, the world was buzzing with the excitement of new radio technology. This innovation promised to revolutionize global communication. Companies were eager to explore its potential, but they also needed to address challenges like interference.

One such company, Bell, tasked engineer Karl Jansky with investigating interference issues. To tackle this, Jansky built an antenna mounted on wheels from a Model T Ford. This allowed him to rotate the antenna and pinpoint the source of interference.

During his experiments, Jansky picked up signals from various sources like car ignitions and thunderstorms. But then he encountered something unusual: a faint hissing noise. When he tracked its direction, he noticed it shifted westward over time. At first, he thought he might be detecting radio waves from the sun, as no one had yet observed solar radio emissions.

However, Jansky soon realized this signal appeared at night, too. He concluded it was actually radio emissions from the Milky Way. This news was met with skepticism from the astronomical community. They believed that any emissions from space would be too weak to bother with, and some dismissed Jansky because he wasn’t considered an established astronomer.

Luckily, an amateur radio enthusiast named Grote Reber recognized the importance of Jansky’s findings and built the first radio telescope, paving the way for radio astronomy as a field.

The second major discovery came in the 1960s during NASA’s Project Echo, which aimed to bounce radio signals off large aluminium balloons in space. Engineers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson were tasked with testing the system. To their surprise, they detected a signal with a consistent temperature of about 3.5 Kelvins—something they had not expected.

This time, the scientific community quickly acknowledged their discovery. Robert Dicke and his team were already working on theoretical estimates regarding radiation from the Big Bang, which closely matched what Penzias and Wilson found. When Dicke heard about their results, he exclaimed, “We’ve been scooped!”

In addition to these fascinating stories, if you’re interested in the night sky, keep an eye out for a planetary parade on the 28th. After sunset, look for Mercury and Saturn, then move left to see bright Venus, Jupiter, and the distinctly red Mars. The moon will reach its First Quarter on the 6th. It’s an exciting time to observe the cosmos!

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Columnist|Space