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The Sound of Space

4 Extra Debut. Astronomer Dr Lucie Green takes a sonic tour of the Universe, revealing the hidden sounds of Jupiter and beyond. From 2015.

The previously silent world of outer space is changing.

In this audio tour around the Universe, Dr Lucie Green explores the sounds of space.

Some sounds have been recorded by microphones on-board interplanetary spacecraft. Others have been detected by telescopes and sped up until their frequency is tuned to our ears. The rest are sonified X-rays, space plasma or radio waves that reveal tantalising secrets about the universe that our eyes cannot see.

Everyone can recall the sound of the singing comet - a symphony created using measurements from the Rosetta mission. But many other sounds have been created from space data, from lightning on Jupiter to vibrations inside the Sun. From spinning pulsars to black holes and gamma ray bursts, outside our Solar System space becomes even stranger.

Joining Lucie Green on this sonic journey through space are:

* Prof Tim O'Brien (Associate Director of Jodrell Bank Observatory),

* Honor Harger (Executive Director of the ArtScience museum in Singapore) and

* Dr Andrew Pontzen (Cosmology Research Group, University College London)

Plus archive from Dame Jocelyn Bell-Burnell.

Producer: Michelle Martin

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2015.

Available now

30 minutes

Last on

Thu 13 Jan 2022 02:30
BBC Radio 4 Extra

Clips

See all clips from The Sound of Space (2)

Space Sounds

Sun – one mode (NASA SOHO/ A. Kosovichev, Stanford Solar Observatories Group)
Sun – all modes (NASA SOHO/ A. Kosovichev, Stanford Solar Observatories Group)
Earth aurora (NASA/ Donald Gurnett, University of Iowa)
Mercury – Magnetometer data (NASA Messenger)
Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (ESA Rosetta/ Manuel Sennft)
Jupiter upstream ion acoustic waves (NASA Voyager 1/ Donald Gurnett, University of Iowa)
Jupiter whistlers (NASA Voyager 1/ Donald Gurnett, University of Iowa)
Earth whistlers (NASA/ Donald Gurnett, University of Iowa)
Saturn’s rings (NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini-Huygens/ Donald Gurnett, University of Iowa)
Saturn radio emission (NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini-Huygens/ Donald Gurnett, University of Iowa)
Huygens microphone (ESA Huygens)
Huygens radar (ESA Huygens)
Red giant (Asteroseismology.org)
White dwarf (Asteroseismology.org)
Pulsar PSRB1919+21 (CSIRO Parkes radio telescope, Australia)
Millisecond Pulsar PSRJ0437-4715 (CSIRO Parkes radio telescope, Australia)
Vela pulsar (CSIRO Parkes radio telescope, Australia)
Black hole – Cygnus X 1 (NASA Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer/ Flowmotion/  Tim O’Brien, Jodrell Bank)
Gamma ray burst (NASA Swift telescope/ Andrew Pontzen, UCL)

Music

Radioqualia – Comma data return
Sigur Ros – Jodrell Bank Mix 1
Semiconductor – Black Rain
Louis Dandrel – Les Chant des Étoile – Jupiter
Voyager recordings - Symphonies of the Planets – Jupiter
Louis Dandrel – Les Chants des Étoiles – Andromède
Radioqualia – SKR Live mix 15.11.08
Voyager recordings - Symphonies of the Planets - Saturn
Louis Dandrel – Les Chants des Étoiles – Arietis
Louis Dandrel – Les Chants des Étoiles – Pulsars Crabe et Vela
Ensemble S - Gerard Grisey – Le Noir d’Étoile Pt 2
Louis Dandrel – Les Chants des Étoiles – 07) Soleil
Louis Dandrel – Les Chants des Étoiles – 01) Soleil
Radioqualia – Data space return

Broadcasts

  • Fri 30 Jan 2015 11:00
    BBC Radio 4
  • Mon 6 Apr 2015 23:00
    BBC Radio 4
  • Wed 12 Jan 2022 14:30
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Thu 13 Jan 2022 02:30
    BBC Radio 4 Extra

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