It sounds like fireworks, with a bang followed by a faint crackle of glow. Then there is a hum in the background. Soon it is overtaken by what sounds like a crashing wave, one after another, louder than the previous one. Random sound beeps sound between waves.
This is the sound of a black hole. Specifically, a “black hole system” about 7800 light years from Earth called V404 Cygni. Fireworks are the sound of a black hole. The impinging waves are light reflections, bursts of energy that bounce off nearby gas and dust. Random notes are individual stars.
This is different from the sound of a real black hole. A soundscape created by NASA to represent data from telescopes. Using sound in this way, called sonification, is nothing new. For decades it has been used primarily for public outreach and by a small number of blind or partially sighted astronomers.
But in recent years, more and more astronomers are realizing the benefits of “listening” to the universe. This allows you to sift through sets of data that would otherwise be difficult to analyze, or even uncover signals you may have missed. “Our auditory system often identifies patterns and extracts meaning even when our visual system cannot,” he says. Bruce Walker at Georgia Tech. There is currently an ongoing effort to convert the influx of data from observatories around the world into sound. I hope this provides an extraordinary new perspective on the universe…
