Hear the sounds of space in these Chandra voices

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has shared a new way to experience space, with three”sonicationwhich converts visual astronomical data into sound.

The first sonication was for Westerlund 2, a group of young stars imaged at optical wavelength by Hubble and at x-ray wavelength by Chandra. As the sound moves from left to right across the image, brighter lights are represented by louder sounds, and lights toward the top of the image are sharper.

The second sound is for the rest of the Supernova Taiko, where the sounds start in the center of the rest and move outwards. Red colors, indicating iron, are represented by lower tones, while bluer colors, indicating sulfur, are represented by higher tones.

Finally, they vote Galaxy M87 The site appears The famous giant black hole at its center, with a sound that sweeps the image like radar. Light closer to the center of the galaxy is represented in higher hues, and light farther from the center is represented in lower hues.

In addition to engaging the general public in science, one of the main goals of the project was to enable blind or visually impaired people to appreciate the wonders of space, explained Kimberly Arcand, Chandra’s chief scientist.

“Audio tested and verified with experts and non-experts who are blind or visually impaired (eg astrophysicist, amateur astronomers, students)” She said. “Chaque sonication est créée pour mieux représenter les données scientifiques d’une manière qui a le plus de sens pour les données spécifiques, tout en étant représentée avec présentée et en racontant le de sens pour les données spécifiques, tout en étant représentée avec présentée et en racontantant l’utelle de nohis en sensu the sound.”

Arcand also said that she hopes her team will continue to vote in the future as they have been well received. “User tests on obesity with different audiences (from students to blind and visually impaired adults), the response has been very positive. Indeed, it is an emotionally positive thing.”

“We certainly hope to continue working on a more comprehensive design application for our astronomical data in general. How can we? We are excited to play a role in making the universe accessible to as many people as possible.”

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