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Eerie Sounds from Saturn

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the woooooooooo-woooooooooooo dept.

Mick Ohrberg writes "Scientists at NASA have now heard proof (called 'Saturn kilometric radiation') that Saturn has a phenomenon similar to the earths' Northern Lights (aurora borealis). Talking about the eerie sounding noise, Dr. Bill Kurth with the University of Iowa, says "We believe that the changing frequencies are related to tiny radio sources moving up and down along Saturn's magnetic field lines." It couldn't sound any spookier if they added a Theremin."

9 of 217 comments (clear)

  1. Ah. Whistlers, etc. by gardyloo · · Score: 4, Informative

    Did a project in college to detect and characterize some of these "noises", but in the Earth's atmosphere. They're really very interesting.

    The "dawn chorus" (not recorded by me!) can be found here: ahref=http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/sounds/sou nds.htmlrel=url2html-7959http://image.gsfc.nasa.go v/poetry/sounds/sounds.html>

    1. Re:Ah. Whistlers, etc. by nherm · · Score: 4, Informative

      I found here a sample of AKR emission from earth's magnetosphere. This sample has a higher frequency shift than the one from the first link in the fine article, but also I think they are similar, in both cases structures that oscilates with high to low-frequencies, and then high again, can be heard (that, or I need new earphones :)

      Maybe you would like to compare the spectrograms:

      Earth's AKR emission.

      Saturn's AKR emission.

      Also, one of the samples from cassini is very similar (IMO) to this sample of a chorus emission at earth's magnetosphere (more info here, in the sense that there are some structures rising from low to high-frequency.

      Sadly, the spectrogram is not so clear, like the one from cassini

      Very interesting stuff. Yes, I did some work in that area. No, I am not a space physicist. And finally, yes, I have this page in my bookmarks.

  2. No wonder its eerie... by NeoThermic · · Score: 4, Informative

    >>Time on this recording has been compressed, so that 73 seconds corresponds to 27 minutes. Since the frequencies of these emissions are well above the audio frequency range, we have shifted them downward by a factor of 44.

    If you compressed the time of my voice down about 22 times and shifted its frequency down by a factor of 44, I think I would sound eerie as well!

    Then again... you might not need to shift my voice to make it sound eerie...

    NeoThermic

    --
    Use my link above, or to view my server, NeoThermic.com
  3. INSPIRE by geigertube · · Score: 5, Informative

    If anyone's interested in listening to the Earth natural radio broadcasts, NASA has a nice page set up (with kits for making your own VLF receiver)here. Other planets here.

  4. Fixed Link by Adam9 · · Score: 3, Informative

    McGreevy ground-based VLF recordings

  5. Re:Wahhh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    These are radio emissions, electromagnitec waves that propagate undisturbed in vacuum and as such were detected by Cassini. Sound as you point out needs a medium such as air, as it required waves of a compressed medium, and our ears evolved to detect a portion of that frequency, typically 20 Hz to 20 kHz. The audio that you hear is just an artifact, it is just the "baseband" interpretation of that emission, and is useful to appreciate the richness of the emissions in the frequency spectrum and variation in time (which we appreciate as "tone" and "melody"). It was "transposed" by a factor of about 40, but this is arbitrary and can affect the quality of the "rendition".

  6. Theremins are not obsolete! by toeofdestiny · · Score: 5, Informative

    You can still buy new ones from Moog.

    1. Re:Theremins are not obsolete! by SailFly · · Score: 2, Informative

      or better yet, build your own! I built a Theremax from a kit a couple years ago and have enjoyed experimenting with it. I just used an old box for the case (wood lecturn not required).

      --
      Suncoast Linux - Sarasota, FL
  7. The Theremin - ultimate geek instrument by Aminion · · Score: 2, Informative

    Invented by Russian physicist Leon Theremin in the 1920's, the Theremin is not only the predecessor of the synthesizer, it's one of the earliest electronic musical instruments and produces music in relation to the musician's hands in the air! The sound of the Theremin is as eerie as it's beautiful.

    Some audio clips: Star Trek Intro, Sinners, Space Cruiser Yamato/Star Blazers, Heterodyne (Commodore64 style!), Rotors of Raga (entire archive)

    You too can build your own Theremin. For the less tech savvy, you can always buy a Theremin kit. The Theremin is one of many unusual instruments for you to discover.