Interference at Peakfall Ridge

≈ 6 min

Peakfall Ridge Observatory closes to the public at 9 PM, but tonight the prize of the annual Harmon Astrophotography Competition — a data file on the main telescope's dedicated server, capturing a rare noctilucent cloud formation — was overwritten with noise just after 11 PM. Observatory director Dr. Lena Ashworth discovered the sabotage at 11:42 PM and called for an inquiry. Four people had legitimate after-hours access: a volunteer technician, a visiting researcher, the competition's external judge, and a rival entrant.

Subject

Priya Osei

Amateur astrophotographer and current front-runner in the Harmon Competition; her noctilucent-cloud image, captured after eighteen months of waiting, was the overwritten file.

The suspects

Felix Drummond — Volunteer Telescope Technician
Dr. Mira Voss — Visiting Researcher, Atmospheric Physics
Callum Breeze — External Competition Judge
Nadia Fern — Competition Entrant, Amateur Astronomer

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