Earthlings now hear the sound of a black hole for the first time in human history: A low-pitched groaning that sounds as if a creaky door were being opened repeatedly.
NASA released an audio clip of the sound for 35 seconds earlier this month. It was made using electromagnetic data from the Perseus Cluster, which is approximately 240 million light years away.
Sonification of the black spot at the centre of the Perseus Galaxy Cluster.
Since it was gathered by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory nearly 20 years ago, the data had been sitting idle. It was only recently that NASA decided to convert it to sound. This was part of its efforts over the past two-years to make NASA’s stunning space photography more accessible to the ear.
In an interview with Weekend Edition, Kimberly Arcand, NASA visual scientist, said that she started paying attention to the visual for the first 10 years.
The Perseus audio attempts to reproduce the sound of a black hole, but Arcand’s “sonifications” offer more creative interpretations of images. Each type of material aEUR’ gaseous cloud or star gets a unique sound. Element near the top of images have a higher tone, while brighter areas are louder.
Visit NASA’s Universe of Sound website to see more examples of sonifications. Continue reading to find out more about Arcand’s venture.
How the black hole audio was created
We are listening to a resonification. This is basically a data sonification. It is the sound of a sound wave being sent out by a supermassive blackhole at its core. The note was discovered by the scientists who first studied the data. It was basically a B-flat, about 57 Octaves lower than middle C.
Sonification of the galaxy center of our home, The Milky Way.
Sonifying an image from the middle of the Milky Way Galaxy
We take the data and extrapolate what we need. To ensure that light to sound conversion is a natural process for blind and low-vision people, we pay close attention to the scientific story. Our Milky Way galaxy’s inner region aEUR”, which is a very energetic area with a lot of frenetic activity, is aEUR”. It could sound totally different if we look at another galaxy, which may be calmer or more restive at the core.
Sonification of M16, The Eagle Nebula (aka “Pillars of Creation”)
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAOn the sonification of “Pillars of Creation”, photograph taken from the Eagle Nebula, Serpens constellation
It’s like a baby star nursery. These columns of dust and gas are where stars are being formed. You can listen to the interplay of the X-ray and optical information. It’s trying to give you some of the text.
These soundscapes can add a lot of emotion to data that might otherwise seem esoteric or abstract.
