There has been a lot of overhaul on the initial image and data telescope James Webb new generation of NASA. Consequently, the agency published a series of sound landscapes on Wednesday to give amateurs of space a new way of appreciating webb observations. The tracks, which include translations of photos of Carine and southern nebulae, use sonification to transform vision and data into hearing experiences.
“Music poses in our emotional centers,” said musician Matt Russo, professor of physics at the University of Toronto who worked on the project. “Our goal is to make webb images and data understandable thanks to sound – help listeners create their own mental images.”
The “cosmic cliffs” of the Carina nebula, a magnificent celestial object filled with stars, gas and dust, are transformed into a sparkling symphonic sound palette. Gas and particles produce drone sounds. The lower orange and red zone of the image is melodious. Vive light sources have a higher tone.
The southern ring nebula takes a strange tone as if it were formed in a tunnel with listening string players. This sonification is divided into two sections to represent the various webbb infrared measures manufactured by the nebula. Dazzling stars generate distinctive sounds, similar to pinched piano strings.
The team of scientists and musicians has not simply translated audio visuals. Webb data on the atmosphere of the giant exoplanet of WASP-96 B gas were transformed into science fiction soundtrack with decreasing tones and a dripping water effect. These droplets indicate the signatures of atmospheric water.
Sonification gives webb discoveries a new dimension and also make the work of the telescope more accessible to lovers of blind and low vision space. In addition, webb audio experiences are both strange and familiar. They demonstrate that there are more ways to study the universe that we can see with our senses.
“When I heard a sonification for the first time, it struck me in a visceral and emotional way that I imagine that people seen live when they look at the night sky,” said Christine Malec, member of The blind and low vision community that worked on the Sound Webb project.