Will

the
Sun Set
on
Radio
Astronomy? By Joshua Roth

40 Sky & Telescope April 1997 ©1997 Sky Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.
W ILL HUMANS PRACTICE radio astron-
my 50 years from now? While opinions var-
ied, most parties queried by Sky & Telescope
were guardedly optimistic. Nevertheless, says
Michael Davis, chief scientist at Arecibo Ob-
servatory, “There are extremely serious problems ahead” for
those who study celestial sources of radio waves.
Radio telescopes have taken giant strides in sensitivity and
resolution, unraveling a new universe of dynamic phenomena
(February issue, page 26). However, radio astronomers in-
creasingly have to sift celestial signals from a plethora of un-
wanted emanations. Observations of quasars, pulsars, and in-
terstellar gases can be compromised by devices as diverse
as garage-door openers and microwave
ovens. Many observatories are sited far
from population centers, which affords Light pollution’s
them a degree of freedom from artificial
interference.
But new developments in space-based
invisible cousin is
telecommunications may negate the ad-
vantages of even the most remote loca-
no less ominous to
tions. Several armadas of communica-
tion satellites are slated for deployment those who study
over the coming decade. With the ability
to transmit signals instantaneously to
any point on Earth, these systems prom-
the stars.
ise to make paging Patagonia as easy as phoning the corner
drugstore. However, they will also pepper the sky with con-
stellations of radio-bright beacons. Whether this spells doom
for radio astronomy depends on a bewildering web of techni-
cal, legal, and economic factors.
AUCTIONS AND ALLOCATIONS
Modern society has developed an insatiable appetite for
rapid data exchange. People are willing to pay a premium for
wireless connections, whether to phone the kids during an
evening commute, to watch TV at a mountaintop lodge, or to
BHUPESH MANGLA AND LEIF J. ROBINSON
relay medical records to the scene of an accident. As a result,
the right to use the radio spectrum has mushroomed in value.
Recognizing this, the Federal Communications Commission
has been auctioning off licenses to use narrow bands in the
U.S. (S&T: November 1995, page 6). Other entities allocate ac-
cess in other countries.
Most of this activity is taking place at frequencies ranging
from tens of megahertz (tens of millions of cycles per second)
to a few gigahertz (a few billion cycles per second). In the
©1997 Sky Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.
upper part of this range top prices are being paid for the right
to transmit radio waves. Even higher frequencies (tens of
GHz) have been tentatively earmarked for commercial use.
These bands can be more finely sliced and ultimately offer
more information-carrying capacity. But such high-frequency
waves are harder to transmit and receive and they are hin-
dered by moisture in the Earth’s atmosphere.
The FCC generally licenses commercial transmitters within
broad guidelines established by the International Tele-
communication Union (ITU), an agency of the United Na-
tions that sets standards for the spectrum’s use. Astronomy
has been formally recognized as a player on the ITU stage
only since 1959. By then, however, much of the radio spec-
trum was already busy with television
transmissions and communications with
seafaring vessels and with aircraft. Nev-
ertheless, a modest number of narrow
frequency bands were set aside by the
ITU for astronomical use, most notably
a spectral swath around the 1420-MHz
emission line from cold hydrogen atoms.
(The H I line, as this feature is called,
enabled astronomers to discern our
Milky Way’s spiral structure for the first
time, and it has been used to track the
motions of matter in numerous galaxies.)
Radio frequencies whose astronomical importance has
been discovered since 1959 have had a harder time getting
similar protection. The hydroxyl radical (OH), a common
chemical component of giant molecular clouds and cool stel-
lar envelopes, emits several spectral lines between 1.6 and 1.7
GHz. One of these lines, at 1612 MHz, was first observed in
1963, and until 1992 it enjoyed only secondary status under in-
ternational law. This meant that astronomers had no legal pro-
tection from transmitters enjoying primary status.
Thanks to the ITU’s 1992 revisions, astronomical use of the
hydroxyl band between 1610.6 and 1613.8 MHz now possesses
a primary allocation, giving it a legal status equal to those for
position-determination spacecraft, aeronautical navigation,
and satellites that communicate with movable ground devices
like hand-held telephones. But, in the meantime, this OH
band — a window through which astronomers study several
phases in the lives of stars — has become threatened by serv-
ices at closely adjacent frequencies. This juxtaposition has put
radio astronomers on a collision course with a multibillion-
dollar industry that’s just beginning to bloom.
April 1997 Sky & Telescope 41
 fall into the 1610.6 – as surrendering to spectrum pirates.
1613.8 MHz OH band. That’s because space-to-Earth transmis-
At this point, “the nor- sions in the OH-flanking communica-
mal thing to do is to tions band enjoy only secondary status.
put in a filter,” Ponson- According to the ITU’s radio regula-
by continues. But with tions, secondary services may neither in-
so many transmitters terfere with nor seek protection from
on each satellite, he primary services, and radio astronomy
reasons, filters would holds primary status in the OH band.
add significant weight Some astronomers thus feel that there
to the satellites. should be protection from any measur-
While not contest- able interference that Iridium’s satellites
ing Ponsonby’s analy- may cause in this band.
sis, Motorola engineer On the face of it, international law
Charlie A. Bucher sides with the astronomers. But it’s not
counters that his com- clear how much protection this affords
Although H I emissions from nearby spirals like Fornax’s
NGC 1365, shown in color, are protected from interference, pany has “done a tre- in practice. European astronomers are
similar signals from distant, highly redshifted galaxies are mendous amount of reeling from Astra 1D, a Luxembourg-
swamped by television broadcasts, satellite transmissions, work to insure lineari- based television satellite whose emis-
and navigational aids. Courtesy S. Jörsäter and G. A. van ty” in Iridium’s ampli- sions are spilling into a spectral window
Moorsel. Inset courtesy European Southern Observatory. fiers. But all parties (10.68 –10.7 GHz) where radio astrono-
admit that they’ll know my has primary status. Complaints have
ENTER IRIDIUM how much power Iridium pumps into been registered with authorities in Lux-
One project has brought astronomy’s the OH band only after its first satellites embourg and with the ITU. But, as
predicament into particularly sharp fo- are put through their paces. (At press Arecibo’s Willem Baan notes, “the ITU
cus. In 1995 the FCC authorized three time, the launch of Iridium’s first satel- doesn’t really have a stick” with which
lites was delayed by the January failure to stop out-of-band transmissions.
networks of low-Earth-orbit communi-
of a Delta 2 rocket.) The U.S. National American radio astronomers may
cations satellites to begin operations. The
Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) enjoy better protection. When licensing
largest of these, called Iridium, is being
and Motorola plan to work together this Iridium, the FCC reminded Motorola
built by Motorola Satellite Communi-
year to quantify interference levels. that it requires “space stations trans-
cations in Chandler, Arizona, for an in-
Motorola has offered equipment that mitting in the space-to-Earth direction
ternational consortium (including Mo-
will enable radio telescopes to “blank in the 1613.8 –1626.5 MHz band [to]
torola, Inc., the satellite maker’s parent out” during the 45-millisecond stretches take whatever steps are necessary to
corporation). Consisting of 66 satellites within which the satellites transmit to prevent harmful interference to the
(plus several in-orbit spares), the $5 bil- Earth. While this would halve observing United States’ radio astronomy facilities
lion system is being built to offer voice, time, such a scheme may well help as- during periods of observation.” The chief
paging, and data services between hand- tronomers steer clear of Iridium’s out- of the satellite-engineering division at
held units anywhere on Earth. Because of-band emissions. However, accepting the FCC’s International Bureau, Steve
these portable transponders and the sat- such an offer strikes many astronomers Sharkey, assured Sky & Telescope that if
ellites will communicate directly with one
another, each will have to emit relative-
ly strong radio signals.
Iridium, Loral/Qualcomm’s Global-
Star, and TRW’s Odyssey all plan to use
frequencies at or near the 1612 MHz
OH line for “uplinks”: signals sent from
DIGITAL SKY SURVEY / SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE INSTITUTE

the ground to space. Such use enjoys

primary status in the eyes of the ITU.
However, Iridium stands apart by also
“downlinking” in the same range. There
wouldn’t be cause for alarm if Iridium’s
space-to-Earth transmissions remained
within their allocated range (1621.35 to
1626.5 MHz). But Iridium’s design seems
destined to introduce unintended trans-
missions into the OH band.
As John Ponsonby, a radio astrono- 1 arcsec
mer at England’s Jodrell Bank, explains, 5 arcmin
every Iridium satellite has 318 transmit-
ters, each of which will conduct numer-
ous electronic “conversations” simulta- A disappearing species? VX Sagittarii, a 10th-magnitude peculiar variable, is shrouded
by gases that give off laserlike beams of radio waves. Observations of such sources may
neously. The intermodulation resulting be thwarted by spillover from communications satellites. The panel at right shows
from these amplifiers’ nonlinearities will 1612-MHz emissions from the hydroxyl (OH) radical in two shells (coded red and blue)
produce out-of-band emissions that will surrounding the dying star. Adapted from The Invisible Universe Revealed by Gerrit L.
Verschuur.
42 Sky & Telescope April 1997 ©1997 Sky Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.
Motorola failed to comply, the agency
“would go back to the licensee to make
sure they comply with their authorization.”
One source of ambiguity may compli-
cate matters. Neither the ITU nor the U.S. Radio Selected
FCC quantifies “harmful interference.” Astronomy Other
The pollution power limit formally re- Allocations Uses (U.S.)
quested by astronomers (–238 decibels
10 MHz
or 1.6×10–24 watts per square meter per 30 m
hertz) outshines most celestial sources;
astronomers can tolerate “minus 238”
only because artificial satellites are usu-
ally “seen” through telescope sidelobes,
which are dozens to hundreds of times Nonthermal sources
(e.g. Crab Nebula;
less sensitive than the main beam. Sev- radio galaxies;
quasars)
eral astronomers told Sky & Telescope Cordless telephones
that Motorola initially assured them in TV Ch. 2-4
1991 that Iridium’s downlinks would re-
FM radio
main below this limit within the OH 100 MHz
band, but the satellite manufacturer re- 3m

versed itself a couple of years later. Taxis; paging

In a 1994 memorandum of under- TV Ch. 7-13
standing with NRAO, Motorola did set
Military; remote
itself a goal of giving the observatory’s Deuterium (2H) 327 MHz devices (e.g. car
Green Bank site “minus 238” for four (Europe only) alarm/garage door)

early morning hours each day. A sparse-

Pulsars TV Ch. 14-20; police/fire
ly populated site where astronomers TV Ch. 21-36
enjoy a unique amount of control on TV Ch. 38-60
ground-level transmissions, Green Bank 1 GHz
Cellular phones
is home to NRAO’s nascent 100-meter 30 cm
Global Positioning Satellites
radio telescope. Other, less stringent Atomic hydrogen (H) 1421 MHz
Satellite-mobile ground unit links;
levels are stipulated around the clock 1612 MHz
Hydroxyl radical (OH) 1665 MHz aircraft
for NRAO’s other sites, which include Personal communications services
Upcoming communications
the Very Large Array in New Mexico allocations (e.g. “wireless internet”)
Airport radar
and the 10 widely scattered stations of
the Very Long Baseline Array. In turn,
NRAO’s management has pledged to Satellite cable TV
Thermal and nonthermal sources
minimize their OH-band work during (HII regions; planets;
radio galaxies; quasars
periods when Iridium’s usage peaks. Earth-exploration satellites
(e.g. Landsat)
Signed before Iridium’s license, with 10 GHz
3 cm Satellite communications
its pro-astronomy clauses, had been is- Direct-broadcast satellite
sued, the Motorola-NRAO agreement NASA; defense
Radiolocation/radar
may prove a pragmatic parallel to many
Defense-satellite communications
environmentalists’ pacts with loggers Water (H2O) 22.2 GHz
Ammonia (NH3) 24 GHz
TV relay; “wireless internet”
and ranchers. According to NRAO’s A.
Richard Thompson, OH-band studies
only comprise a small fraction of the ob- Silicon monoxide (SiO) 43 GHz

servatory’s workload. “With the present

Wireless computer networks
explosive use of the spectrum,” says Formaldehyde (H2CO) 72.8 GHz
Thompson, “there will be many other Numerous molecules 100 GHz Vehicle collision-avoidance radar
cases in which radio astronomy has less Carbon monoxide (CO) 3 mm
protection than it has in the 1610.6 –
1613.8 MHz band, and solutions will de- Water (H2O) 183 GHz
Key
Band shared with
pend largely upon the goodwill of other Peak in cosmic background radiation transmitting services
spectrum users. Thus, causing unneces- Numerous molecules Continuum
sary gridlock [by insisting on absolute Spectral line
freedom from interference] is likely to
be counterproductive in the long run.” Sources: SpectrumGuide; U.S. Dept. of Commerce; Astrophysical Data; A. R. Thompson

But its many detractors point out that

NRAO has set a dangerous precedent
by effectively ceding the 1612-MHz OH
band for all but a few hours daily. This
particularly irks Ponsonby because “Mo-
torola chose of its own free will to avail
itself of a secondary allocation” for their
The spectral equivalent of wilderness areas, a few dozen radio bands have been set
aside for astronomical use. Nearly all the frequencies from 10 MHz to 275 GHz have
been allocated to broad classes of active (transmitting) users, some of which are speci-
fied here. Government agencies like the FCC now apportion narrow slices to individ-
ual companies or projects. Navigation, satellite, and communication bands are scat-
tered throughout the radio spectrum. So too are numerous spectral features from
astronomical sources, most of which remain unprotected from interference.

©1997 Sky Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. April 1997 Sky & Telescope 43
 space-to-Earth transmissions, in spite of

Light Pollution’s the fact that astronomy — the service

most sensitive to out-of-band emissions
— has primary standing at closely adja-
Invisible Cousin cent frequencies.
In addition, Ponsonby notes, the stipu-
lated interference limits are prefaced

S
KYWATCHERS KNOW HOW light pollution diminishes their views of
the heavens. Those who can remove themselves from lights can perceive with the words “subject to verification
far more stars than their citybound counterparts. Yet even a dark sky is in [Motorola’s] experimental testing pro-
bedeviled by numerous artificial satellites that appear as moving “stars.” Such gram” — a possible escape clause.
spacecraft often mar wide-angle celestial photographs; indeed, the second sky AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE
survey now under way with Palomar Mountain’s 1.2-meter Schmidt camera has
been forced to abandon its initial goal of a pristine atlas. While Iridium may be uppermost in
Radio telescopes generally have much coarser angular resolution than even astronomers’ minds today, it is only one
an amateur’s backyard reflector. As a result, they are far less able to steer clear chapter in what promises to be an un-
of unwanted sources. What’s more, for a variety of reasons, radio dishes have ending tale. Commercial pressure on the
sidelobes, a form of peripheral vision that makes them sensitive to radio bea- electromagnetic spectrum is certain to
cons far from the direction they’re pointing. intensify, and astronomers will continu-
One feature of space-based transmitters is counterintuitive for eyeball as- ally encounter new sources of interfer-
tronomers. A 500-watt light bulb in low-Earth orbit (say, 800 kilometers up) ence. The largely untapped millimeter-
would have an apparent magnitude around 9 when overhead. Although rela- wave spectrum is about to be opened up
tively bright, such a beacon would find itself outranked by thousands of stars. to commercial use. Balloon-borne trans-
By contrast, a 500-watt radio transmitter in the same orbit can outshine even ponders, collision-preventing radars for
the Sun (as seen by radio-sensitive “eyes”) by many orders of magnitude. cars, and a satellite-based “wireless In-
This apparent enigma stems largely from the fact that a communications ternet” are all on the drawing board or
satellite packs its power into a relatively narrow frequency band, whereas beyond.
sources like light bulbs spread their radiation from the visible to the in- There are technical steps scientists
frared. Thus, as long as artificial radio sources don’t emit at the frequen- can take to build up a degree of immu-
cies studied by radio astronomers, they shouldn’t cause any more trou- nity from some forms of interference,
ble than does a monochromatic light source like a low-pressure says Andrew Clegg, a former radio as-
sodium lamp. tronomer who now advises the telecom-
As for any rule, there are exceptions. The feeblest munications industry on trends in spec-
cosmic sources require radio astronomers to trum usage. New spectrometer designs
sample radiation over as wide a band as may enable interference-blocking tech-
possible; by infringing on band- niques to be refined. Phased arrays may
width, artificial transmis- empower astronomers to “null out” arti-
sions limit sensitivity ficial satellites by judiciously delaying re-
to distant sources of ceptions from individual antennas. Data-
radio waves. Pulsar as- recording techniques may even someday
tronomers also require allow astronomers to “tape” radio waves
large bandwidths. And in real time so that desired signals can
seekers of both pulsars be sifted out later by a variety of means.
and signs of extraterres- However, as NRAO’s director, Paul A.
trial intelligence can be Vanden Bout, puts it, “There’s no silver
fooled by artificial trans- bullet” that will make spurious signals
missions that repeat peri- disappear outright.
odically. Thus radio astronomers need to keep
When artificial transmis- abreast of the telecommunications in-
sions impinge on radio as- dustry and to make their voices heard by
tronomy, their source is us- the agencies that regulate it. “The elec-
ually something emitting at tromagnetic spectrum is a natural re-
frequencies other than those source, like timber,” says Mark McKin-
it has been licensed to use. non, a pulsar researcher at Green Bank.
This often occurs because “People need to build homes, but wilder-
harmonics are generated. An- ness areas also need to be preserved.”
BHUPESH MANGLA AND LEIF J. ROBINSON

other cause is radio waves
that are amplified or modu-
lated in a way that gener-
ates out-of-band emis-
sions over a wide range
of frequencies.
J. R.
Indeed, some visionaries are already ma-
neuvering to establish a last-ditch radio-
quiet zone on the far side of the Moon.
But lunar observatories may be genera-
tions away, and astronomers can hardly
afford to compete in today’s airwave
auctions. Thus they will continue to rely
on regulation, innovation, and coopera-
tion in order to listen for whispers within
a rapidly rising cacophony.

44 Sky & Telescope April 1997 ©1997 Sky Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.