Frequency clash
Radioastronomers in India are concerned about the likely impact of signals from a new satellite for global systems for mobile communications (GSM) network on the US $17 million Giant Metre Wave Radio Telescope near Pune. Iridium, a subsidiary of Motorola, which is a global satellite communication company, owns the network. Astronomers at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research's National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Pune, say that signals from the satellites to mobile telephones will interfere with observations of the radio emissions from hydroxyl (OH) ions. These form an important band for exploration of regions in galaxies where stars are forming. The satellites would beam signals to phones at a frequency range close to the radioastronomy band (Nature , Vol 390, No 6656).