Bad Astronomy

Hear the Sun’s roar

I love it when people take electromagnetic phenomena (like aurorae) and convert them to sounds. Light and sound are very similar from a physics standpoint – both are waves, though very different kinds of waves. Still, if you take the wavelength (color) and amplitude (intensity) of light, you can convert them mathematically to pitch and volume of sound. It’s not telling you anything physical or real, but it might give you insight into some phenomena… or it might just be cool, like this video which translates the March 7, 2012 solar storm into sound for your listening pleasure.

Nifty, isn’t it? And the big storm sounds like a lion’s roar, which is appropriate, at least. If you want more insight into this, Emily Lakdawalla posted about it, as did Universe Today. And check out the Related Posts below for links to more things like this.

Related Posts:

- Listen in on the Perseid meteor shower
- Saturn, the Forbidden Planet
- Phoenix sings
- Laying down the pulsar beat