Astronomer Dr Lucie Green takes an audio tour of the Universe revealing a host of hidden noises, from the crackle of lightning on Venus to the sound of bells inside the Sun.
The previously silent world of outer space is changing. Astronomers are using sound to help them uncover the secrets of our Universe. In this programme, solar scientist Dr Lucie Green guides listeners around the noisy Universe, starting from the Earth, moving through the Solar System, past the Sun to distant galaxies.
People may recall the sound of the singing comet – a symphony created using measurements taken by the Rosetta lander, Philae. But many other sounds have been created using space missions, from lightening on Venus to aurora on Saturn. Other space recordings are of actual sounds which have been sped up by astronomers to make them audible – for example the noise of our nearest star, the Sun.
Just as a doctor listens to the sound of the heart to make a diagnosis, astronomers listen to the oscillations inside stars to draw a detailed picture of their interior. The range of noises is surprising and diverse – from ringing bells to short buzzes and eerie drum rolls, as a star expands to become a red giant in the final phases of its life.
From pulsars to gamma ray bursts, space outside our Solar System becomes even stranger. Pulsars are tiny rotating stars, smaller than London, which can spin at a rate of milliseconds. They emit radio waves from their poles and astronomers detect these pulses as they sweep past earth, like the spinning beam of a lighthouse beacon. Lucie brings listeners all these sounds, and more, from our incredibly noisy Universe.
Presented by Dr Lucie Green
Produced by Michelle Martin
Size 26MB. Length 28 Minutes. Bitrate 128kbps.
Replies
Thanks for sharing, fascinating stuff!!!
Thank you, very nice.
Thank you.
Thank you!
Sounds interesting (no pun intended). Fascinating to think that somewhere out in the galaxy someone may be tuning into and listening to old radio broadcasts that were beamed into space from earth.
Thanks........love this stuff..............Jim