The sounds of space

Space is a vacuum, but we are still able to find sounds within it. This may be from the surface of a planet, or by converting vibrations into soundwaves.

I'll begin with Mars, since that's the planet you clicked on. In 2021, Perseverance landed on the surface of Mars. On it were two microphones that were able to pick up the first sounds of its surface. These sounds are airy and quiet, mostly made up of gusts of winds and the scratching of Perseverance as it travels. It's surreal to think about and to listen to. It's almost like being transported to the surface for a few short moments. You can listen to the sounds here.

I'll admit it doesn't sound much different to Earth. Sounds are more muffled and airy because of Mars's very thin atmosphere, which doesn't carry soundwaves very well. There's one exception to this: the sound of a meteor hitting the surface. It goes... Bloop. There is no other way to describe it. According to NASA, "After sunset, the atmosphere retains some heat accumulated during the day. Sound waves travel through this heated atmosphere at different speeds, depending on their frequency. As a result, lower-pitched sounds arrive before high-pitched sounds. An observer close to the impact would hear a "bang," while someone many miles away would hear the bass sounds first, creating a "bloop.""

Even in the void of space, we can find sound, because planets can sing. And god, do they sound lonely. Pained, even. You can listen to them here. I might be biased, but Jupiter is my favourite. It sounds so sad yet melodic. They're all equally haunting in their own way, though.

If you were able to spacewalk near the atmosphere of one of these planets, you wouldn't hear their song (or... screech). These sounds are actually radio waves. The data is recorded and then converted to sound, which can be done with virtually any data. It's called sonification. So yes, space is still silent, but the bustling activities of atmospheres put off waves that we can convert. You can read more about that here.

On a similar vein is the lonely hum of a black hole. You can hear it here. It sounds to me like a whale's call. It is the sound of pressure waves sent out by the black hole, which then sent ripples through the hot gas of the Perseus galaxy cluster. These ripples were then translated into sound.

These are just some of the examples of the sounds we can get from astronomy data. It amazes me how musical some of it sounds. Music, to me, seems like a universal language. Every culture has its own form of music, stretching back to thousands of years. Have you ever heard the oldest melody? I nearly cried the first time I did. It's so ancient, yet so familiar. We all make music, and so do the birds, the planets, plants. The universe may even be strumming its own tune. String theory proposes that our universe is made up of infinitesimal vibrating strings, smaller than atoms. The string instruments of everything that exists.

I play guitar, so it's nice to know that the universe is always out there to duet with me.

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