Sound, in we humans’ audible range, does not travel through the vacuum of space. But if it could, the Sun would be putting on one heck of a concert, all day, every day. This “Sun Sonification” video from NASAOpens in a new tab, which demos our parent star’s theoretical hum, gives us a sense of what that concert would sound like, but don’t be fooled: Even though the noise seems bearable in the clip, one solar physicist did the math and found out that, on Earth, the Sun’s noises would literally be as loud as a rock concert—which makes it seem like it’d be even more raucous than the screaming sun from Rick and MortyOpens in a new tab.
The eerie hum playing in the clip, which sounds like something you’d hear coming from a dank basement in an episode of the X-Files, was generated from 40 days of data collected from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory’s (SOHO) Michelson Doppler ImagerOpens in a new tab (MDI). SOHO is a solar observation spacecraft in orbit around Earth, and the Michelson Doppler Imager is an onboard instrument that takes measurements of the Sun’s photosphere to help give insight into the workings of the magnetic fields that influence the structure of the coronaOpens in a new tab.
After the data was collected from MDI, it was then taken by Alexander G. Kosovichev at the Stanford Experimental Physics Lab, and “sonified.” The National Science FoundationOpens in a new tab notes that this process takes place by changing the light wave data captured by MDI and then translating it into sound waves using computer models that are able to identify relationships between the two phenomena.
The roaring surface of the Sun. NASA Goddard Space Flight CenterOpens in a new tab
In an unrelated, yet still relevant, bit of science (which comes via FuturismOpens in a new tab), solar physicist Craig Edward DeForest calculated how loud the Sun would actually be on Earth. In a detailed response to a question on redditOpens in a new tab that asked “IF sound could travel through space, how loud would The Sun be?” DeForest noted that we can actually see the infrasound waves that are present all over the surface of the Sun all of the time—the same infrasound waves that Kosovichev used as the basis for the Sun sonification sounds in the video up top.
DeForestOpens in a new tab calculated that if “leaked sound” from the Sun—which he told AstronomyOpens in a new tab would sound like “10,000 Earths covered in police sirens, all screaming”—could somehow propagate to Earth, it would blast at about 100dB per square meter. For reference, Industrial Noise ControlOpens in a new tab says 100dB is the sound spectrum inhabited by things like power lawn mowers, motorcycles, farm tractors, jackhammers, garbage trucks, or a jet flyover from just 1,000 feet up. Or, you know, a star that seems to be scared as SchittOpens in a new tab of the universe it was born into:
What do you think about this theoretical audio of the Sun’s screaming hum? Does our parent star sound exactly like you thought it would, or did you expect a different kind of howlingOpens in a new tab? Let us hear your thoughts bright and clear in the comments!
Feature image: Adult Swim
