NASA released three new cosmic sounds on Thursday, related to the densest and darkest member of our universe: black holes. These scientific works are statistics (or converted into sound) of data collected in space by NASA telescopes, including the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the James Webb Space Telescope and the Imaging X-ray Polarization Explorer (IXPE).

This new consonant trio represents different aspects of the black hole. Black holes are neither static nor holistic. They develop over time and are found in various sizes and environments.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9eosgfzd4g[/embed]

The first movement is the prelude to the potential birth of a black hole. WR124 is a very bright, short-lived giant star called the wolf ray, about 28,000 light-years away from the Earth. These stars hang the outer layers into space, creating a spectacular arrangement in the infrared light of the Weber telescope. In WR124's 视频, this nebula is heard with flutes and bells of the background stars. At the center of WR124, the scan begins before moving outward, the star's thermonucleus that may explode into a supernova and potentially collapse and leave a black hole when it wakes up. As the scan moves outward from the center, the X-ray source detected by Chandra is translated into a harp sound. NASA's James Webb space telescope data is heard in the sound of metal bells, while the light of the central star maps to a scream of landing from the beginning. This piece is played through springs of the Infrared Telescope Trio of the ESA (European Space Agency) Herschel Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope retired, and the Explorer (Wise) retired as a chord.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqeonUsiawm[/embed]

In this second motion of black hole composition, listeners can explore the duo. The SS 433 is a binary or dual system of approximately 18,000 light years, which plays in X-rays. The two members of SS 433 include a heavier partner like our sun, whether it is a neutron star or a black hole. This orbital dance causes ups and downs in X-rays, Chandra, Ixpe and ESA's XMM-Newton telescope has been adjusted to. These X-ray notes have been combined with radio and infrared data to provide the background for this celestial waltz. The nebula in the radio waves is similar to a drifting manatee, scanning sweeping from right to left. Lights towards the top of the image map to higher sounds, with radio, infrared and X-ray lights map to low, medium and high pitch ranges. The bright background stars play as the sound of water drops, and the position of the binary system is heard to pull out the sound, pulsing to match the fluctuations caused by the orbital dance.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7SSCOA2LVI[/embed]

The third and final motion of the black hole-themed consonant, with a distant galaxy called Centaurus A, about 12 million light-years away from Earth. At the center of Centaurus A is a huge black hole that emits a booming jet throughout the entire length of the Milky Way. The scan circles clockwise from the top of the image and encounters Chandra's X-rays and uses it as a single tone ringtone. X-ray light from Ixpe is heard in a continuous frequency range, creating a stylised sound. Visible light data from the MPG telescope of the Southern European Observatory shows stars in the Milky Way mapped to string instruments, including foreground and background objects as pulled strings.

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These homophones are led by the Chandra X-ray Center (CXC), in the Marshall Space Flight Center and NASA’s study program, which is part of NASA’s scientific activation program. The collaboration was driven by visualization scientist Kimberly Arcand, astrophysicist Matt Russo, musician Andrew Santaguida, and consultant Christine Malec.

The Chandra program is managed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The Chandra X-ray Center of the Smithsonian Observatory controls science in Cambridge, Massachusetts and flight operations in Burlington, Massachusetts. NASA's Learning Materials Universe is based on work supported by NASA under the Cooperation Agreement No. NNX16AC65A and in partnership with the Center for Astrophysics Caltech/IPAC | Harvard and Smithsonians and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The agency's IXPE is a collaboration between NASA and Italy's Space Agency and partners and scientific collaborators in 12 countries. The IXPE mission is led by Marshall. Bae Systems, Inc. Headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, it manages spacecraft operations with the University of Colorado’s Boulder Atmospheric and Space Physics Laboratory.

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Learn more about Chandra X-ray Observatory and its mission here:

This version has three compositions related to black holes as the soundtrack for a short video. Each ultrasound video has a composite image representing different aspects of black hole life. These images are visualizations of data collected by NASA telescopes. In each video, a line sweeps through the image. When the line encounters a visual element, it converts into sound based on parameters established by visual scientist Kimberly Arcand, astrophysicist Matt Russo, musician Andrew Santaguida and consultant Christine Malec.

The first onomatopoeia features WR124, which is a very bright, huge star. Here, stars are in units of short stages before possible black holes may be created. The center of the composite image is a large white and light blue glitter star. The star is located at the core of mottled pink and golden clouds, with its long diffraction spikes extending to the outer edge. Also living in the cloud are other large glittering stars, glowing hot pink dots, and tiny spots of blue and white light. In this onomatopoeia, the sound activation line is an ever-expanding circle that begins at the center of a huge star and continues to grow until it exits the frame.

The second cable number has SS 433, a binary galaxy known as the center of supernova residues of the Mavericks Nebula. Visually, the translucent blue-green nebula does indeed resemble a spherical walrus or manatee, floating in the red haze, filled with light from a distance. Inside the nebula are violet stripes, blue stripes and a large bright spot. This point is represented by the sound in the part of speech and is a binary system in the center of the nebula. In this onomatopoeia, the vertical activation line begins at the right edge of our frame, then sweeps through the image before exiting our left.

The third and last ultrasound layer has Centaur A, a distant galaxy whose black hole emits long, high-energy particles. The black hole is located in the center of the composite image, represented by bright white light. A dark, granular rectangular cloud crosses the black hole from our lower left to the upper right corner. A huge, faintly translucent blue cloud extends from our upper left corner to the lower right. The long, thin jet (also translucent blue) extends from the black hole in the center to the upper left corner. In this onomatopoeia, the activation line rotates around the image like a clock's hand. It starts at twelve o'clock and then scans clockwise around the image.

Megan Watzke
Chandra X-ray Center
Cambridge, Massachusetts.
617-496-7998
mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu

Lane figueroa
Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama
256-544-0034
lane.e.figueroa@nasa.gov