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Space Sounds - Space Data Sonification

  • Cassini-Huygens passing through Saturn's rings - Space Sounds

    12 DEC 2023 · NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini-Huygens spacecraft is hit by millions of dust particles as it goes through a gap in Saturn's icy rings.Although the ring gaps appear empty, they are not. The spacecraft ploughed through these dust particles at a speed of about 70 000 kilometres per hour! These impacts, converted into audible sounds, resemble hail hitting a tin roof.
    13s
  • Whistler Atmospheric squeaking - Space Sounds

    12 DEC 2023 · Whistlers were first occasionally heard at the end of the 19th century on long-distance telephone lines. They are electromagnetic emissions produced in the atmosphere, but their cause is still partly unclear. They originate from thunderstorms or meteorites, or even after earthquakes. Once produced, the sounds travel along closed magnetic field lines from one hemisphere to the other. Studying them can yield information about the Earth's atmosphere, ionosphere, and magnetosphere up to very long distances. This one is a lightning strike recorded by Cluster (courtesy of Prof. D. Gurnett, University of Iowa).
    14s
  • Dawn in Space - Space Sounds

    12 DEC 2023 · 'Dawn chorus' signals detected by ESA Cluster’s WBD (Wide Band Data) instrument.High-energy electrons get trapped in the Earth’s radiation belts. When they are accelerated by the electromagnetic field, they produce this familiar sound. With the help of missions studying particles in space like the four Cluster spacecraft, ESA scientists are investigating how the electrons are accelerated and how the sound like the 'dawn chorus' of birds is created.
    45s
  • Auroral Star Wars - Space Sounds

    12 DEC 2023 · Sound of an Auroral Kilometric Radiation (AKR) collected by Cluster resembles the one of R2D2, the little robot from 'Star Wars'.Earth can generate radio emissions in a natural way. The most intense of these emissions is a phenomenon called Auroral Kilometric Radiation (AKR). It is produced in the auroral zones at an altitude between 3000 and 20 000 kilometres. Afterwards, the sounds escape outward in the space from the magnetic field lines. AKR intensifies during magnetic and auroral substorms so you can use it as a remote indicator of geomagnetic activity. The Wide Band (WBD) instrument on-board Cluster recorded this sound and made the first direct determination of the locations of an AKR
    1m 59s
  • Wailing of Leonids - Space Sounds

    12 DEC 2023 · Each time a meteor crosses the atmosphere, it leaves behind a short trail of ionised particles. This trail reflects high-frequency radio signals from stations around the world for just a few seconds. The motion of the meteor trail due to the upper atmosphere winds changes the frequency of the reflected signal (Doppler effect). You 'hear' the trail as it is blown around by the winds before it is eventually dispersed.
    4m 59s
  • Carina Nebula Sonification

    27 NOV 2023 · This sonification does not represent sounds recorded in space. Two musicians mapped the telescope’s data to sound, carefully composing music to accurately represent details the team would like listeners to focus on. In a way, this sonification is like modern dance or an impressionist painting — it converts Webb’s image to a new medium to engage and inspire listeners.
    36s
  • Sagittarius A* Sonification

    27 NOV 2023 · Sagittarius A* Sonification
    32s
  • Galactic Sonifcation from the Milky Way Galaxy

    27 NOV 2023 · Galactic Sonifcation from the Milky Way Galaxy
    1m 4s
  • Perseus Galaxy cluster - Black Hole Sonification

    27 NOV 2023 · Since 2003, the black hole at the center of the Perseus galaxy cluster has been associated with sound. This is because astronomers discovered that pressure waves sent out by the black hole caused ripples in the cluster's hot gas that could be translated into a note — one that humans cannot hear some 57 octaves below middle C. Now a new sonification brings more notes to this black hole sound machine. In some ways, this sonification is unlike any other done before because it revisits the actual sound waves discovered in data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The popular misconception that there is no sound in space originates with the fact that most of space is essentially a vacuum, providing no medium for sound waves to propagate through. A galaxy cluster, on the other hand, has copious amounts of gas that envelop the hundreds or even thousands of galaxies within it, providing a medium for the sound waves to travel. In this sonification of Perseus, the sound waves astronomers previously identified were extracted and made audible for the first time. The sound waves were extracted in radial directions, that is, outwards from the center. The signals were then resynthesized into the range of human hearing by scaling them upward by 57 and 58 octaves above their true pitch. Another way to put this is that they are being heard 144 quadrillion and 288 quadrillion times higher than their original frequency. (A quadrillion is 1,000,000,000,000,000.) The radar-like scan around the image allows you to hear waves emitted in different directions. In the visual image of these data, blue and purple both show X-ray data captured by Chandra.
    34s

Sonification is the process of converting data into sound. It's a method of representing information or data streams through non-speech audio, making patterns and changes in the data perceptible through...

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Sonification is the process of converting data into sound. It's a method of representing information or data streams through non-speech audio, making patterns and changes in the data perceptible through sound. This technique can be particularly useful for analyzing data patterns, for educational purposes, and for making data accessible to individuals with visual impairments.

NASA has utilized sonification in a fascinating way to turn data from space into sound. This process involves translating the information collected by various space missions — such as light, radio waves, or magnetic fields — into audible sounds. It's a unique approach to data analysis and public engagement that transforms the seemingly intangible aspects of space into something that can be heard and experienced.

This podcast included sounds NASA has used Sonification to create so space can be experienced in a new and unique way.

Galactic CenterCas AM16Bullet ClusterCrab NebulaSN87ASagittarius A* / Galactic Center
Eta CarinaeM87 JetSagittarius A* (EHT)Southern Ring NebulaV404 CygniStephan's Quintet
NGC 6543CDFM51Westerlund 2TychoM87
Perseus ClusterSagittarius A*Carina NebulaWASP-96 bR AquariiM104
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Author Quiet.Please
Categories Astronomy
Website -
Email corboo@mac.com

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