Scientists at the Technical University of Denmark measured magnetic signals with a European Space Agency (ESA) satellite and converted them into sound.
It produced squeaks, squabbles, and pops—sounds that could replace a horror movie soundtrack.
Scientists used satellite data in this way to remind listeners of the magnetic field, which continues to shield life on Earth from cosmic radiation.
Musician and project supporter Klaus Nielsen, from the Technical University of Denmark, said: “The team used data from the European Space Agency’s Swarm satellites, as well as other sources, and used these magnetic signals to manipulate and control the acoustic representation of the core field. The creaking of Earth’s magnetic field is accompanied by a representation of a magnetic storm. Earth was caused by a solar flare on November 3, 2011, and it actually looks very scary.
European Space Agency · The scary sound of Earth’s magnetic field
Earth’s magnetic field is generated largely by the superheated liquid iron that makes up our planet’s outer core, 1,900 miles (3,000 kilometers) below the surface.
As heat escapes from the inner core, the iron moves in convection currents, and the movement generates strong electric currents.
The Earth’s rotation on its axis causes these electric currents to form a magnetic field that extends around the planet and into space.
In addition to allowing the compass to function, the magnetic field protects us from the bombardment of cosmic radiation and from charged particles carried by the solar wind.
The magnetic field can actually attract some of these charged particles, causing them to collide with atoms in the upper atmosphere, such as oxygen and nitrogen.
When they do, some of the energy in the collisions turns into blue-green light – known as the aurora borealis.
This is the only visual representation of the magnetic field we can experience, but otherwise it is invisible and does not make sound.
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) trio of Swarm satellites were launched in 2013 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia and are currently being used to understand exactly how our magnetic field is created by measuring magnetic signals emanating from the Earth’s core and core (Mantel, mantle, mantle), and from the crust and oceans, as well as from the ionosphere and magnetosphere.
The Swarm mission is also looking at the effects of space weather on our atmosphere.
Scientists in Denmark collected data from the Swarm satellites and translated them into sound waves, making our magnetic field audible for the first time. And this audio clip was accompanied by the sound of a solar storm.
Using 30 loudspeakers that were placed in holes in the ground in Solberg Square in Copenhagen for a week at 08:00, 13:00 and 19:00, the team was able to pick up the magnetic signals.
“We set up this system so that each loudspeaker represents a different location on Earth and shows how our magnetic field has fluctuated over the past 100,000 years. The project was certainly a useful exercise in combining art and science,” Nielsen said.
It is noteworthy that in 2019, astronomers recorded the strange “song” that the Earth’s magnetic field sang when it was hit by a storm of charged particles sent from the sun.
The result was an acoustic version of the aurora light show, which can be seen near the poles when charged particles interact with Earth’s atmosphere.
Experts from the European Space Agency (ESA) analyzed the magnetic waves that are produced when this “solar wind” floods the Earth, and converted the results into audible frequencies.
Source: Daily Mail