Meet the NASA astronomer behind the sound of a black hole
Download mp3 (11.21 MB)There's a sound that has been described as “cosmic horror.”
Some say it feels a little like staring into the abyss of the universe — and they're not far off. It's the sound of a black hole, the black hole at the center of the galaxy Perseus, to be more exact.
NASA released the “remixed sonification” earlier this month, and the internet went wild. The clip on Twitter alone has now been streamed almost 17 million times.
The misconception that there is no sound in space originates because most space is a ~vacuum, providing no way for sound waves to travel. A galaxy cluster has so much gas that we've picked up actual sound. Here it's amplified, and mixed with other data, to hear a black hole!
— NASA Exoplanets (@NASAExoplanets) August 21, 2022
Kimberly Arcand is the scientist behind it. Her official title is visualization scientist and emerging tech lead for NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.
The Show spoke with Arcand, who said it’s a misconception that there’s no sound in space.
