NASA has previously shared some fascinating sonifications, which take images of space and turn them into auditory experiences — both to allow people who are visually impaired to enjoy the wonders of space, and to provide a new way for everyone to experience space images. Now, the agency has released a new set of sonifications from some historic images taken by the venerable Chandra X-ray Observatory.
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the first light images from Chandra. It may not be as famous as its other space telescope cousins like Hubble and James Webb, but Chandra has been a vital tool in helping astronomers to peer into the universe in the X-ray wavelength. And during its time, it has also produced some beautiful and famous images.
“To mark the anniversary of this milestone, new sonifications of three images — including Cassiopeia A (Cas A) — are being released,” NASA writes. “Sonification is a process that translates astronomical data into sound, similar to how digital data are more routinely turned into images. This translation process preserves the science of the data from its original digital state but provides an alternative pathway to experiencing the data.”
The three new sonifications include images of Cassiopeia A, a cloud of debris that is the remnant of a supernova. At its heart is the remainder of an exploded star, called a neutron star, and the sonifications begin at this central point and move outward, with X-ray data from Chandra represented by piano sounds and infrared data from James Webb and the Spitzer Space Telescope represented by brass and string instruments.
There’s also 30 Doradus, known as the Tarantula Nebula, which is know for its glittering, dreamy landscapes and now has an appropriately sparkling and delicate soundscape. The sculpted shapes in the nebula are the result of shock waves created by winds from massive stars, and red regions in the images are represented by low pitches while white regions have wind sounds and bright stars get synthesizer notes.
And finally there’s the galaxy NGC 6872, a spiral galaxy with two elongated arms reaching out into space. This image is sonified in a clock-like pattern, with sounds sweeping around from a central point, which is the center of the galaxy. Here, the sounds of X-rays are represented as wind-like sounds that correspond to the extremely hot gas that swirls around the galactic center, while star formation in the spiral arms is heard as high-pitched tones.
Previous sonifications have included the sounds of a nebula and a black hole, as well as images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.
