NASA's Curious Universe Hum of the Sun
Nov 14, 2023
Discover the use of data sonification to listen to the electromagnetic symphony of the Sun. Explore the dynamic nature of the Sun as a ball of plasma, its interaction with the Earth's magnetic field, and the creation of a dynamic magnetosphere. Learn about the translation of sun data into music through sonification and the discovery of a pattern, a hum, correlated with solar activity. Dive into the fascinating world of space weather and upcoming solar eclipses.
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Listening Preceded Visual Study
- Early space scientists literally listened to radio outputs and named repeating patterns like the 'dawn chorus' by ear.
- Auditory observation historically revealed ethereal plasma wave patterns before visual analysis dominated.
Turning Solar Data Into Sound
- Robert Alexander converts heliospheric magnetic and plasma measurements directly into audio to reveal patterns humans can hear.
- Writing raw data to audio exposed persistent features that visual plots alone had not highlighted.
Composer Meets Heliophysics
- Robert entered heliophysics as a composer and initially translated excited researchers' spikes into musical language.
- Sonification bridged domain expertise and broader intuition for him and others.