An interesting fact that disappointingly I never get to use in normal conversation, is that if you put your phone in airplane mode and then placed it on Jupiter, it would be the brightest radio source in the Green Bank Telescope's field of view.
(photo by NRAO/AUI/NSF)
@DrFunkySpoon I mean on Jupiter, as a testament to the dish's sensitivity to radio waves.
@MasterNinjaTS Hmmm, but Jupiter itself is an incredibly powerful source of radio waves... Much more powerful than your phone!
@MasterNinjaTS that’s crazy! So you compared rf strength of iphones to pulsars? So glad master ninja is here to enlighten us!;)
@carlysagan I can't take credit here. This fact comes from the observatory.
I don't think this is correct. In airplane mode, cell phones are relatively radio silent.
If the phone were active, it would emit of the order of 1 Watt, however, which indeed makes it a bright source in the sky. But it wouldn't be the brightest, especially not at the distance of Jupiter. (Brightness goes with one over distance squared.)
@MasterNinjaTS Do you mean "held it in front of Jupiter" ?? If you actually placed it on Jupiter it wouldn't be very bright from Green Bank would it?