It might be surprising but two of the most important discoveries in radio astronomy were made by accident.

Maybe, just as surprisingly, they were made by engineers investigating radio communication issues, not "real" astronomers.

Back in the 1930s the new technology of radio offered, for the first time, the possibility of easy, worldwide communication. However, before the technology could be offered commercially, prospective companies needed to investigate its feasibility. Would interference disrupt the service? How often? What mitigation would be possible?

Bell was one of the companies planning to offer radio communication services, so it gave one of its engineers, Karl Jansky, the task of investigating any interference issues liable to cause significant disruptions. To do that, Jansky built an antenna and mounted it on the wheels from a discarded Model T Ford, so it could be rotated to determine the arrival direction of the........

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