Updated November 10th, 2020 at 19:30 IST
'Sounds like screaming woman': Sonification video of Helix Nebula scares netizens
Even though there is no sound in space, Helix Nebula, which is approximately 655 light-years away from Earth, has been given a sound through sonification.
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Ever wondered what stars or other space elements would sound like if they had music? If not, then listen to the latest sonification of Helix Nebula that NASA's Hubble has shared on its social media handle. Even though there is no sound in space, Helix Nebula, which is approximately 655 light-years away from Earth, has been given a sound through Hubble space telescope data sonification, the same digital data that gets translated into images has been transformed into sound.
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However, the music is scaring many on social media as it sounds like it has come out straight from a horror movie. The frequencies of sound increase from low to high pitches just as the frequencies of light increase from red to blue. So as the sonification line travels from the red portion to the center blue part of the Helix Nebula image, a scary screaming woman-like sound is created, just like they do in horror movies.
The Helix Nebula is 655 light-years away, and 3 light-years across! In this sonification, red is assigned lower pitches and blue higher pitches. While there’s no sound in space, this helps us conceptualize data in an auditory way: https://t.co/LA9fOW0XqD
— Hubble (@NASAHubble)
Credit: @system_sounds pic.twitter.com/WYZu23oRyO
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'This is terrifying'
Netizens are reacting to how they felt listening to the sound given to Helix Nebula. "The eye part scared me so. I was caught off guard by the sound of a screaming woman," one individual commented. "Why is this called the Helix Nebula rather than the Horror Eyeball Nebula? The people are curious (they're not)," another user wrote. Several users also asked some interesting questions regarding sonification.
Why is the terrifying space eye screaming?
— KellyO (@KellyOC2323)
JESUS CHRIST please next time
— 🌰 Kuido the Castanyadiest ever 🌰 (@KuidoTheGreat)
And I'm asking nicely
PLEASE leave a warning
This is terrifying
— • M A U R I C E • (@mauricebailey)
What are the advantages to doing this? The audio is assigned to colours but how are the colours determined? I'm sure that process is amazing as well. And yes, creapy as hell hearing that!
— O'hEoghaín (@heoghain)
It's in relation to color frequncies, I believe. And it's a way of non-visually transmitting information while maintaining the sense of scale and depth when compared to common descriptions. Describe it to yourself, then close your eyes and listen to understand a lottle better
— Esther Jade (@Esthertheokay)
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Meanwhile, the Hubble Space telescope that captured the data and sent it back to Earth was deployed 30 years ago by the space shuttle Discovery. The space observatory has been named after astronomer Edwin Hubble and since its launch in 1990, it has made more than 1.4 million observations.
Read: International Space Station Celebrates 20 Years Of Human Existence In Outer Space
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Published November 10th, 2020 at 19:31 IST