The Earth’s magnetic field protects us from cosmic rays and charged particles of space, also known as the solar wind. The familiar aurora seen in the northern hemisphere of the Earth is the result of charged particles colliding with that solar wind, says the European Space Agency (ESA).
“For something that protects us, the noise is pretty terrifying,” ESA writes. For five minutes you will hear horrible sounds that seem to come straight from a haunted castle. Listen for yourself:
The magnetic signals were measured by ESA’s Swarm satellites, launched in 2013. The purpose of the launch was to better understand the Earth’s magnetic field.
art project
Visitors to Solbjerg Square in the Danish capital Copenhagen were among the first to hear the sound last week. The sound of the magnetic field was reproduced there as an art project by thirty underground speakers:
