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NASA Recorded the Sound of a Black Hole (and Space Isn't Silent)

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3 a.m. A message arrives from Commander Robin, six billion kilometers away in the Kuiper Belt: "Space isn't silent." But every science book says it is. So Dr. PX goes looking, and finds REAL recordings: wind on Mars, Earth's "chorus" that sounds like birds, Voyager 1's ringing plasma between the stars, and a black hole singing 57 octaves too low to hear.

Chapters

  1. 0:00 A message at 3 a.m. (opens in a new tab)
  2. 0:40 Who's right? (opens in a new tab)
  3. 1:06 What is sound? (opens in a new tab)
  4. 1:49 Real wind on Mars (opens in a new tab)
  5. 2:19 Signal lost (opens in a new tab)
  6. 2:57 Plasma (opens in a new tab)
  7. 3:32 Earth's chorus (opens in a new tab)
  8. 4:04 Voyager's hum (opens in a new tab)
  9. 4:49 The sound of a black hole (opens in a new tab)
  10. 5:37 The answer (opens in a new tab)
  11. 6:14 Your turn (opens in a new tab)

Sources

  • Sound needs a medium; space is a near-perfect vacuum: NASA Glenn Research Center; NASA "10 Things: Going Interstellar"
  • Solar wind near Earth, 3 to 10 particles per cm³: NASA
  • First sounds recorded on Mars, Perseverance rover microphones (2021): NASA/JPL-Caltech; Maurice et al., Nature 605 (2022)
  • Earth's chorus, recorded by NASA's Van Allen Probes (EMFISIS, 2012): NASA; University of Iowa
  • Voyager 1 hears the interstellar plasma ring (2012 and 2013): NASA/JPL-Caltech, PIA17045; Gurnett et al., Science (2013)
  • A faint, steady hum in Voyager 1's data: Ocker et al., Nature Astronomy (2021)
  • Perseus black hole: sound waves in hot gas, a B flat 57 octaves below middle C (2003); sonification raised 57 and 58 octaves (2022): NASA Chandra X-ray Center
  • Kuiper Belt distance and six-hour signal delay: NASA (New Horizons at Arrokoth, about 6.6 billion km)

Spotted a mistake or have a question? Ask Dr. PX

Credits

Real recordings: Mars wind NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/CNRS/ISAE-Supaero; Earth's chorus NASA, EMFISIS team, Univ. of Iowa; Voyager 1 plasma NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Iowa; Perseus sonification NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida). Images: NASA/JPL-Caltech (Perseverance, Mars), NASA/Goddard (radiation belts), NASA/CXC/GSFC (Perseus cluster). Music: YouTube Audio Library. Sound effects: original. Narration: AI-generated voice. Commander Robin: played by Robin.