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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."

50 of 217 comments (clear)

  1. Just Because... by daviq · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just because the Saturnites are watching the twilight zone gives our scientists no reason to talk about electroical-magnetical-thingicals...

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    1. Re:Just Because... by chriswaclawik · · Score: 5, Funny
      Just because the Saturnites...

      We prefer the term Saturnian, you insensitive clod!

      --
      A guy walks into a bar... well, I forgot the joke, but the punchline is that he's an alcoholic.
    2. Re:Just Because... by Dunbal · · Score: 3, Funny

      a million to one, they said.

      "exactly a million to one, with any luck..."

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    3. Re:Just Because... by Walt+Dismal · · Score: 4, Funny

      Brain...slugs...eating...my brain! Must.. resist! Spock, help me... find my ...8-track.. of Grateful Dead!!

    4. Re:Just Because... by Eideewt · · Score: 2, Funny

      We could use a little less of that....

  2. Wahhh by JeiFuRi · · Score: 5, Funny

    I thought there was no sound in space?

    1. 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".

    2. Re:Wahhh by fossa · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Question: at what level of vacuum does sound cease to propagate? I imagine "cease to propagate" might be subjective? Or perhaps there's a definite line like "when the mean free path of the gas molecules is large compared to the chamber dimensions" (a gas molecule hits the wall more often than it hits another gas molecule) (as in turbopumps, is that even correct?)... though what that would mean in outer space isn't clear to me.

    3. Re:Wahhh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      At very low pressures such as the high altitudes of commercial flight routes you still obviuosly have significant propagation, I think that the limit is more theoretical than anything. I think you are in a good path with your reasoning, as the wavelength of a sound wave is the distance between 2 peaks of high pressure, which has a low pressure valley in between, in an extremely rarified environment, such as in deep space, the extremely large mean free path of the molecules would result in mind numbing wavelengths, and unsignificantly low frequencies. I leave the numerical exercise to the experts!

  3. This is just WAY cool by PenguinBoyDave · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This is why I like technology. My seven-year-old will think this is just very, very cool. Perhaps one day we'll actually find little green men. If mean heck...if we can hear this, just think of how much more is to come! AWESOME!

    --
    I'm not a troll, but I play one on Slashdot.
    1. Re:This is just WAY cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      These days, it's extremely unfashionable to be enthusiastic.

  4. 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.

  5. Forbidden planet by Various+Assortments · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Sounds like some of the effects from the soundtrack to Forbidden Planet!

    http://imdb.com/title/tt0049223/

    1. Re:Forbidden planet by deprecated · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Forbidden Planet has it covered.
      MORBIUS: "Gentlemen, that was recorded by Krell musicians over 2000 centuries ago."

  6. Eerie recordings by dancpsu · · Score: 2, Funny

    Is this eerie recording week in science news? First the recording of the tsunami of the Earth Ripping Apart and now this.

    --
    "Scientists don't change their minds, they just die." -- Max Planck
  7. Geez! by Cytlid · · Score: 4, Funny

    And here I was going to trade in my Hyundai for a Saturn because it was making erie noises as well.

    --
    FLR
  8. Alert the MPAA by geophile · · Score: 4, Funny

    The planet of Saturn has ripped off Man or Astroman.

  9. Just Great... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Theremin the size of a planet, and all I get is a Slashdotting.

  10. 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

    --
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    1. Re:No wonder its eerie... by modecx · · Score: 4, Funny

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

      So you're the one that keeps calling me at 1:00AM! You're gonna get it, buddy. *shakes fist*

      --
      Constitutional rights may be respected, repealed, or modified; but they must never be ignored.
    2. Re:No wonder its eerie... by Lord+Marlborough · · Score: 4, Funny

      So much for getting her interested in science.

      That, sir, is why you lie.

  11. 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.

  12. "Pardon me. I was... by GeneralEmergency · · Score: 2, Funny


    ...giving myself and oil-job." -- Robbie the Robot

    --
    "A microprocessor... is a terrible thing to waste." --
    GeneralEmergency
  13. Fixed Link by Adam9 · · Score: 3, Informative

    McGreevy ground-based VLF recordings

  14. News? by mendaliv · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is news? Hippies have been hearing this sound since the 60s!

  15. Aha! by codewritinfool · · Score: 4, Funny

    So THAT'S what has been keeping me awake at night. I'm calling NASA tomorrow and demanding that they turn that thing down.

  16. Usually the erie sounds... by glrotate · · Score: 4, Funny

    come from Uranus.

    1. Re:Usually the erie sounds... by bobdotorg · · Score: 2, Funny

      And once NASA's sent a probe to Uranus, a few lucky scientists might just have the chance to hear those sounds.

      Yeah - but only if said probe is immediately preceded by a finger pulling probe.

      --
      __ Someday, but not this morning, I'll finally learn to use the preview button.
  17. 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
  18. Yeah, right... by Solder+Fumes · · Score: 4, Funny

    I somehow get the feeling that some scientist were sitting around the lab drinking cheap beer, and wondered what they'd have to do to get the Saturn data to sound EXACTLY like something out of a poor-quality 50's space flick.

  19. Another recording by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Here is another, perhaps even stranger sounding recording from the Iowa scientists' web site.

    http://cassini.physics.uiowa.edu/space-audio/cassi ni/SKR2/casskrtrig04207a.wav

  20. ITS AN ALARM CLOCK ON SATAUN' by hobotron · · Score: 2, Funny


    from the woooooooooo-woooooooooooo dept.

     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubb_Rubb/

    Yous asposed to be awake on sataun' when the aurora comes.

    --
    There is truth in humor.
  21. 50's B Sci-Fi movies were RIGHT after all! by hoggoth · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm playing it over and over.

    It's bringing back some great memories of watching bad 50's sci-fi movies as a kid.
    For some reason I keep picturing a fat gorilla-suited space alien in a diving helmet....

    Oh no... I've played it too many times... I've alerted the terrible space aliens that have been monitoring our airwaves!

    Everybody run! Save your selves! Save your wives!

    --
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  22. You can get strange sounds from almost any data by czei · · Score: 3, Interesting

    As someone who's had a minor career in computer music, I've seen this type of thing again and again. You can take almost any sampled data and if it is something other than purely random you can massage the frequency response into the human hearing range. Its fun to do, but it usually doesn't tell you much.

  23. Hoax by kurt555gs · · Score: 3, Funny

    That isn't Saturn, it's Altair, and those sounds were made by long dead Krell musicians

    I am supprised we did not hear Robbie the Robot ask if we need something!

    --
    * Carthago Delenda Est *
  24. ****NEWS HEADLINE**** by joshjoneswas · · Score: 2, Funny


    Wes Craven Hired By NASA To Reinvigorate Their Program

    In an apparent effort to win over their "Fellow Americans," NASA hired Hollywood dream killer Wes Craven to create sound bites to scare the raggity ends off of every internet surfers' eyelashes.
    "Not to be outdone by 'those other soundbites' in recent days ::cough cough::", says Craven, "we are now in the process of creating the world's scariest underwater sounds featuring blue whales drinking scotch near the Falkland Islands and the soon-to-be (hopefully /. hit!) 'Saturn II - The sound really does BITE' "
  25. Saturn in 2001 by fm6 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    In the original version of 2001, they had Saturn instead of Jupiter as the source of the Big Mystery. Clarke thought it was an "interesting coincidence" that Saturn's rings supposedly formed at about the same time the first humans evolved. (Can't verify whether that's accurate, and am dubious as to the meaning of "coincidence" at that time scale.) The extra difficulty of doing SFX with the rings was just a little bit too much, and they changed it to Jupiter. If they'd stuck with Saturn, imagine the silly comments that this discussion would have!

    1. Re:Saturn in 2001 by Dogtanian · · Score: 4, Insightful

      In the original version of 2001, they had Saturn instead of Jupiter as the source of the Big Mystery.

      Arthur C. Clarke actually retained Saturn as the destination in the novel (not a 'novelisation'; it was written concurrently in order to help develop the film). The novel also varies in several other areas; notably the "pod bay doors" scene in the film is handled differently, albeit to the same ends. The 'stargate' is also different.

      The difference is as much one of tone and style, however. The novel is more ACC "factual" and explains things in a way the film never tries to.

      Having seen the film some 6 years after first reading the book, I made what (in retrospect) I consider the mistake of treating them as the same thing in different form. At first, I saw the film as being similar to the book, but with less explanation; now I realise that at a deeper level the philosophy and approach of the book and film are fundamentally different, and to get the most out of the film, it's necessary to consider it on its own merits.

      That's not to say I prefer the film; in some ways, I think it's overrated and pretentious (having initially given it an unconsidered free ride on my "favourites" list on the back of my liking of the novel, I realised that on its own merits I wasn't that keen on it).

      The odd thing is the sequel, 2010. The novel of 2010 (which the 2010 film was based on) was an engrossing and natural sequel to the 2001 novel. This despite the fact it took the location of the action from the 2001 film (Jupiter) not the 2001 novel (Saturn); in terms of its logical style, and the quote "Oh my God... It's full of stars", it follows on from the novel, not the film.

      The film 2010, which came later, perversely borrowed the "Oh my God" line from the novels (it never appeared in the original film), and the factual approach which worked in the novel combined with overly commercial sensibilities and a cheesey (and now very dated) cold-war subplot made the film less than brilliant and not a very naturalistic "sequel" to the first film.

      At one stage I thought 2010 was a good film on its own merits (that is, if you hadn't seen 2001); although you need to know what happened in 2001 to get the most out of it, you could read the novel of it, so this isn't as stupid as it sounds.

      My opinion of it has gone down somewhat, not because it ruins everything in 2001 by explaining it (2010:The Film is really the film of THE NOVEL of 2010; which was a sequel to THE NOVEL of 2001; it makes more sense that way than considering it as a simple sequel to the 2001 film). No, the problems I have with 2010 are:-

      (a) Cheesy cold-war subplot (okay, ACC wrote this for the novel, but the sentimental aspects are ramped up in the film)....
      (b) Hollywood Sentimentality (oh yeah, already mentioned that); not so much because it contrasts with the 2001 film's approach, but because it's formulaic
      (c) Too much a straightforward sci-fi film; hasn't *tried* to do anything as original as Kubrick.
      (d) ...which includes the technology. The original film does *not* have a 1960s tech look; some of the displays are very innovative and original for their time. If they look cliched, it's only because it influenced the look of subsequent films so much. 2010, on the other hand, although in some respects more realistic (less bright lighting) hasn't tried to escape its 1980s origins. As a result, we see Chandra accessing HAL through what looks like a keyboard from a TRS-80 home computer or something; so dull, unimaginative and dated compared to the look and feel that was put into the original (e.g. the memory modules when Dave is deactivating HAL). Ditto the calculator that Heywood uses in 2010. The whole thing looked more dated than 2001 even 10 years after it was made (and 2001 was 26 years old at the same time).
      (e) Didn't they have sound in space in 2010? Yuk!

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  26. Oof. Sorry by Saturn49 · · Score: 2, Funny

    I had chili for dinner. 'scuse me.

  27. Is this legal? by bgspence · · Score: 2, Funny

    The RIAA on Saturn be suing NASA for all it's worth. Spaceships should be leaving soon to collect or vaporize us all.

  28. It sounds even weirder because they used by Placebo+Messiah · · Score: 2, Interesting

    granular synthesis to change it into audio...granular synthesis ignores phase data, because it is spectral based. If they played an actual recording of the waveform instead of just its spectra, I'm sure it would sound very different and a lot more 'natural'. Right now it sounds like a typical granular synth....grainy

  29. Sound? by Bellum+Aeternus · · Score: 2, Insightful
    In space nobody can hear you scream - but they can hear Saturn?

    Man, that ruins the whole ring it. ^_^

    --
    - I voted for Nintendo and against Bush
  30. It's their defence system by AndroidCat · · Score: 2, Funny

    Just in case Mars attacks.

    --
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  31. 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.

  32. The sound is coming from Saturn? by meme_vector · · Score: 2, Funny

    I thought that sound was coming from Uranus... (Hey, YOU were thinking it too)

  33. Everyone's is Missing the Obvious - This is HELL by Trail_of_Dead · · Score: 2, Funny

    Not sure why anyone else doesn't understand this as clearly as I do. Saturn is where Hell is. These sounds you are hearing are obviously the moans and cries of the forever damned as they are repeatedly ripped apart. In addition, if you listen to the McGreevy VLF recordings, these are obviously sounds of the doomed souls being dragged to Hell (Saturn) by Satan's minions. Get Yee Hither! Repent!

  34. Re:Everyone's is Missing the Obvious - This is HEL by d3bruts1d · · Score: 2, Funny

    No. Hell is on Mars, located below one of our research labs.

  35. The echoing sound... by haakondahl · · Score: 2, Interesting

    One thing that strikes me as odd is the "echo" effect. While other freqs vary wildly, this stays fairly constant. I did the math, 27 minutes to 73 seconds of audio is a reduction by a factor of about 22. Estimating the echo to be at about 6 Hz, that means that the interval between "echo" peaks is about 3.7 seconds. Is that the time for an average field line to accelerate a spiralling particle from one pole to the other? (and back?)
    Or did the scientists throw in an echo effect? That would certainly keep it constant. Sampling problem?

    --
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