‘The Lowest Note’: NASA Captures Eerie Sounds from a Supermassive Black Hole

In a groundbreaking revelation, the US space agency NASA has recorded an eerie audio clip that captures sound waves emanating from near a supermassive black hole located 250 million light-years away. This extraordinary acoustic phenomenon originates from the heart of the Perseus cluster of galaxies.

The sound waves, detected in 2003, were initially found rippling through the vast gas surrounding the black hole, creating a distinctive humming sound that has captivated astronomers. In a bid to make these inaudible frequencies accessible to the human ear, NASA transposed the acoustic waves up 57 and 58 octaves.

"It is difficult to hear them at their current pitch as it includes the lowest note ever detected in the universe by humans – much below the limits of human hearing," the agency explained in its release. The lowest note, identified as a B-flat, lies over 57 octaves below middle C, with a frequency measured at an astonishing 10 million years at that pitch.

NASA’s recent sonification process has significantly amplified these sound waves, allowing listeners to experience the cosmic reverberations that resonate throughout intergalactic space. The sound waves were played in an anti-clockwise direction from the center of the black hole, creating an immersive auditory experience at enhanced pitches of 144 quadrillion and 288 quadrillion times their original frequency.

As noted by NASA, “Like several other waves recorded from space, the result for this one was eerie too.” The discovery emphasizes that sound vibrations do exist in space, despite our inability to hear them naturally.

The tenuous gas and plasma drifting between galaxies, collectively referred to as the 'intracluster medium,' is denser and much hotter than the intergalactic medium beyond it. This elevated temperature plays a crucial role in regulating star formation, suggesting that sound waves could be pivotal in the evolution of galaxy clusters over extended periods.