Digital TV Switch A Boon For Astronomers
The brief period of radio silence during the switchover makes it possible to listen for pulsars and other space entities that are otherwise drowned out While most of the world looked forward to the switch from analog to digital TV for the sharper picture and clearer sound, astronomers around the US anticipated the changeover period for a totally different reason: clarity. In the brief period between the removal of analog television signals and the assignment of those frequencies to other devices like cell phones, astronomers will get their first look at a time in the universe that has been obscured from telescopes since Wally and the Beav roamed the airwaves. Since the days of Philo Farnsworth, radio waves have carried television signals at the frequency of 700 to 800 megahertz. The density and power of those television signals drowned out any radiation from distant stars of the same wavelength. Related ArticlesDigital...