Sounds of space: Jingle, pluck and hum - EarthSky

Since 2020, she and her team have been working to present the sounds of space via sonification, the art of turning science data into sound.

In this case, they’re turning data from astronomical images into sound.

The videos on this page will let you listen to a stellar nursery, a supernova remnant and a supermassive black hole.

Each sonification is created to best portray the scientific data in a way that makes the most sense for the specific data, keeping it accurately represented and telling the story, while also providing a new way of conveying meaning through sound.

Once the sound exits the supernova remnant, you hear plucking of harp strings.

For this sonification, of the central region around the black hole, the sound sweeps around the object from a central point, like a radar scanning the sky.

The blue data is from X-ray emission observed by the Chandra space telescope, while the red and orange are long wavelength radio data from the Very Large Array.

The scientists gave the radio data a lower pitch than the high-energy X-ray data.

Bottom line: Sonification of space is when scientists turn their astronomical data into sound

A new installment showcases sonification of three different objects: a stellar nursery, a supernova remnant and a supermassive black hole