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--------------------- 1684 - What does a supernova explosion sound like? In space there is no sound. However, technology can detect electromagnetic radiation and translate it to the frequencies we can hear. What can we learn from this?
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- Count to five. During that time 5 supernovae have exploded somewhere in the Observable Universe. Each second , on average, there is a supernova exploding somewhere in our Universe.
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- About 30% of these explosions are in binary star systems, where one star is pulling material from the other star until it reaches critical mass and explodes as a supernova.
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- The remaining 70% are massive stars that have burned all of their nuclear fuel , their cores collapse, and a supernovae explosions result.
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- We see a massive explosion from the supernova’s emission of visible light. However, that light is but a small fraction of the explosions total energy. 99% of the explosion’s energy escapes in the form of ejected neutrinos. Neutrinos are extremely low-mass, weakly interactive particles.
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- Most all of this energy released in a supernova is “ dark”. This dark energy is extremely important because it produces the chemical enrichment present in our Universe. This enormous concentration of energy smashing atoms together forms all the elements in our periodic table heavier than helium. All of the elements we and our world are made of originates in this exploded stardust.
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- Current observations by astronomers can not yet directly detect the neutrinos responsible for this enormous explosive energy. However, their observations have greatly expanded beyond visible light. Today, astronomers can “see”, detect, infrared, ultraviolet, X-rays and Gamma Rays. Gamma Rays are a billion times more energetic than visible light.
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- A new technique that astronomers are using is to translate this wide spectrum of electromagnetic radiation down to what we can not “see” to lower frequencies that we can hear. They are looking for patterns that our eyes would not recognize into sounds that our ears can readily detect. The process is called, “ sonification”.
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- A typical supernova brightens to a peak in a few weeks, than dims over the following months. With sonification this whole event can be translated from divergent EM wavelengths into a few minutes of sound.
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- Different wavelengths can be translated into different tones. Different supernova explosion patterns can then be compared and studied with a whole new set of “ eyes”, or rather ears.
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- When this technique was used on Supernova 2009ip that occurred 80 million lightyears away in the Spiral Galaxy NGC7259, we learned that it was not a supernova in 2009, as the name signifies. It erupted again in 2010, 2011, and 2012. This last explosion was likely the real supernova that occurred from a luminous blue variable star of 60 solar mass. A star 60 times bigger than our Sun that finally burned all its nuclear fuel, collapsed and exploded.
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- The sound of this total event lasting over 1,300 days was translated from UV, optical, near-infrared, and X-rays into a musical symphony lasting only a few minutes.
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- You can hear it at www.Astronomy,com/toc “ Supernova 2009ip”. Take a listen. Wonder, can anyone else in the Universe be hearing what you are hearing? There is always more to learn, stay tuned.
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