NASA converts data from the Chandra X-ray observatory into sound.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Researchers from the American Space Agency (NASA) have released the audio of black hole at the center of the Perseus galaxy cluster. This galaxy is more than 200 million light years from Earth.
The sound waves in it were captured in the form of astronomical data by the Chandra . X-ray observatory NASA and then converted into a sound that humans can hear.
Despite the “popular misconception” that “there is no sound in space” because there is no medium for sound waves to travel through, the newly released audio sounds very much like Hans Zimmer’s compositions.
According to space agency experts, Perseus is enveloped in hot gas which is a collection of galaxies 11 million light years wide. This collection of galaxies can be translated into audio.
Gas that surrounds hundreds or even thousands of these galaxies, acts as a medium for sound waves to propagate. Sonification is achieved by re-synthesizing sound waves into the range of human hearing, increasing them by 57 or 58 octaves above the original pitch.
Composer Hans Zimmer, who composed soundtrack for the Academy Award-winning science fiction film Interstellar, has created music that sounds a lot like NASA’s newest sound.
Previous attempts at sonification of astronomical data from the Chandra X-ray observatory used various musical instruments such as violins to replicate the sounds. This year’s Black Hole Week was marked by the release of sound, which is part of NASA’s Universe of Learning initiative.
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