From the sounds of planets, to sounds that help map out the universe, join me as I reveal
to you 10 creepy signals from space!
10.
The Sounds Of Jupiter On the surface of things, it may seem odd
to "hear" a planet like Jupiter.
I mean, how can you "hear" a planet that technically doesn't make sounds and has no natural life
on it that we know of?
Simple, just like there's many different ways to "hear" things on Earth, there are many
different ways to "hear" things in space.
Including using radio waves.
Radio Astronomy is a big part of exploring space, and it's actually the reason that we
helped confirm the possibility of the Big Bang Theory (but more on that later).
In terms of the planets, ones like Jupiter emit their own radio waves.
Which is a sound, and a sound that we have heard many times in many different ways.
For example, with Jupiter, it produces radio waves at 5-40 megahertz.
So, if you have a shortwave radio, and you're able to point its antennae at Jupiter, you
would technically be able to hear those radio frequencies.
And thus you would be able to "hear" the planet.
Which brings us to the next question of emitting a radio pulse, how does that happen with Jupiter?
In simplistic terms, it has to do with the magnetic field of the planet.
To put it simply, there are subatomic particles in the magnetic field that bounce around in
such a wave that it produces radio waves.
So the final question must be...what does Jupiter "sound like"?
According to confirmed recordings of the planet (of which NASA has some for you to listen
to if you feel so inclined), it sounds at times like the popping of popcorn.
And other times, it sounds like the roar of ocean waves crashing on the shore.
One time, NASA's Cassini Space Probe went by the planet and recorded a kind of whistling
signal, making many wonder if that's a different "signal" from the magnetic properties of the
planet.
Only further research will reveal the truth.
9.
The Big Bang When it comes to talking about the creation
of the universe, there's a mighty big divide in the worlds' population.
There are those who believe in science, and those who believe in a God or gods having
created the universe.
And the biggest problem in "proving" each side of the argument is that there is sometimes
a lack of "proof".
Which is why there are theories for how the Earth and stars and universe came to be.
For most who believe the science theory of creation, they point to the "Big Bang" as
the creation of the universe.
In short, the Big Bang Theory (not the show) describes an event that created a massive
explosion of energy, and through that the universe was created, and continues to grow.
But what you might not know is that the theory was "proven" when some guys heard something
from space.
In 1964 in New Jersey, when two men accidentally discovered some "noise" in space that didn't
register with everything they knew should be up there.
Robert Wilson and Arno Penzias were two radio astronomers working with the Holmdel Antenna
and when they came across the noise in space, they slowly whittled down everything it could
and couldn't have been.
Then, they recalled a theory of another scientist that said that a Big Bang event would leave
cosmic radiation in the universe...and that's exactly what they found.
The white noise of that radiation in the universe at large.
This ironic discovery helped shape the science world, and they actually got a Nobel Peace
Prize as a result of the discovery.
Funnily enough, another group of scientists at an acclaimed university were trying to
find that same "noise", but got beat by them.
8.
Black Holes This is another instance of you being fine
for believing that something like a Black Hole doesn't make a sound.
After all, Black Holes are cosmic entities of a sort that are so powerful in their gravitational
fields that nothing can escape them without a little help.
Which is why you can't see them, as even light can't escape a Black Hole.
And thus, if a beam of light can't escape a Black Hole, how can a sound wave?
Well, it's all about HOW you listen to things.
Including how you can convert visual images into sounds.
Edward Morgan from MIT had this idea.
He decided to take an X-Ray of a Black Hole and turned it into a listenable sound.
It worked, and the sound that it played has been described as the "darkest thing you'll
ever hear", also the lowest note you'll ever hear.
But, that's not the only time when a Black Hole was heard.
Two Black Holes merged in the universe back in 2015, and someone was able to pick up the
gravitational waves emitted by the merging and reveal the sound of the insane experience
to the world.
"It's the first time the universe has spoken to us with gravitational waves," David Reitze,
a physicist at the California Institute of Technology noted.
Sure, it sounds like rumbling, but it's more than that.
It's a sound from a cosmic event that doesn't happen as often as you'd think it would.
And consider this, we heard these waves of sound and energy despite being 1.3 billion
light years away from where the event happened.
Oh, and the Black Holes?
They were each 30 times bigger than our sun.
7.
Cosmic Puzzles One of the reasons radio astronomy is such
a popular topic is that sound can help us map out space even when visuals fail us.
What's more, there are "Cosmic Puzzles" in regards to sound waves that are out there
waiting to be solved.
An example of this was revealed in early 2019.
A telescope in Canada had picked up some odd repeating signals coming from space.
But not just space, a galaxy 1.5 billion light years away from us.
While a signal isn't too strange, one that repeats means it's a constant event, though
what it means is unclear at present.
"Knowing that there is another suggests that there could be more out there," said Ingrid
Stairs, an astrophysicist from the University of British Columbia (UBC).
"And with more repeaters and more sources available for study, we may be able to understand
these cosmic puzzles - where they're from and what causes them."
One of the big ironies of the situation with this Cosmic Puzzle is that the telescope that
found the signals was only set up in 2018, and discovered the signals rather quickly
once being turned on.
It also discovered more signals than just the repeating signal.
Which means there's a lot more cosmic puzzles out there waiting to be solved.
6.
To The Moon!
Ok, maybe not OUR moon, but a moon.
In this case, the moon of Jupiter.
Ok, ONE of the moons of Jupiter, Europa.
What's important about this particular moon is that it orbits Jupiter in very close proximity
to its magnetosphere.
So because of that, there are plasma discharges that happen when the two "meet" if you will.
And these discharges made a sound that the Galileo satellite picked up when it passed
by Jupiter.
When you listen to the sound, it actually sounds like many things at once.
It has a crackling nature to it that makes it sound like you're listening to white noise
on a radio or TV.
But then it also has some high-pitched bursts that makes it feel like someone, or something,
is trying to communicate with you.
It is most definitely creepy, and yet it's easily explainable.
Though why they need to make such weird noises when the plasma fluctuates in the atmosphere
is beyond me.
5.
The WOW Signal You might think that most of these radio signals
from space were detected in the modern times by advanced technology, but sometimes you
don't need technology of a grand sort to find things.
Sometimes you just need some luck and to be pointing in the right direction.
Such as when the Big Ear radio telescope at Ohio State University was listening to space
in 1977 and found something that they didn't expect.
Originally, the telescope was made to listen to space via radio emissions, but it was then
converted and remade into a telescope that would look for signals that could prove alien
life.
Which was a bit of a problem in 1977 because things weren't exactly that advanced.
However, by looking at the signals, they did notice something peculiar.
You see, back then, they would print out the sounds they collected into numbers and letters
and look for patters.
And one day, they found " 6EQUJ5".
Which is a now famous code which is a continuous radio signal that is played at about 1420
megahertz.
But not just played, played continuously from one spot.
The Sagittarius constellation.
The head of the telescope at the time saw this pattern, circled it and wrote "Wow!"
Thus the name of the signal.
Here's the catch, they then into depth on the signal and tried to figure out what made
it, and why it is coming from that fixed point in space.
They haven't been able to explain it, not even now.
Although, they do note that it could be proof of alien life...
4.
Ganymede Oh, you thought we were done with Jupiter?
Nope!
Because not only is the planet the largest in our solar system, it's also one that happens
to have the most set of moons, and each one apparently has their own unique sound.
So when the Galileo satellite passed the moon known as Ganymede, it found its own sound,
as well as a discovery.
You see, up to that point, we didn't know that Ganymede had a magnetosphere of its own.
Turns out, it did, and like Europa, it was causing plasma fluctuations that resulted
in some rather eerie sounds.
No, that's not the sound of your former dial-up modem, but I can see why you say that.
It also has an effect that is quite similar to the sound of wind, as well as incessant
beeps that will drive anyone mad if heard for long enough.
Just goes to show, that even in the close range of a moon (and moons) to a planet, the
weirdest things can be heard.
3.
The Lost Cosmonaut The early years of the space program weren't
as fun and exciting as missions like the moon mission in 1969 was.
Mainly because man had not dared to try and go out into space, and because of this, we
didn't know exactly what was out there, how it would affect us, and the difficulties in
getting back to Earth from space.
The Soviet Union during the Space Race was bent on trying to beat America in getting
to space and the moon.
Do to this, many have speculated that their missions to space were much more numerous
than the "confirmed records".
Proof of this was found in 1961 when two Italian brothers seemed to pick up a signal from a
"lost cosmonaut".
Specifically, a woman who was apparently a part of a Russian space mission and was currently
in space.
One problem though, the message relayed how she was dying in the craft.
And the signal message because stated how she burned up upon re-entering the atmosphere
(a very real danger that is still a threat to astronauts to this day).
The Soviet Union denied the signal, and the woman's existence in their space program.
So did they lie?
It sure seems that way.
2.
Thunderstorms on Saturn Ah, finally, a planet that emits sounds that
isn't Jupiter!
But, it is its neighbor.
I speak of course of Saturn, a planet that has long fascinated Earth because of its size,
rings, and more.
But, when the Voyager Space Probe flew by it, the scientists of NASA were surprised
to find that there were lightning storms going on in the planet.
Then, when the Cassini Space Probe went by it in 2006, it was able to capture some of
the sounds of the thunderstorms.
Now sure, the sound itself isn't that enticing, as it sound just like a crackling noise.
But that in and of itself is significant, because that shows the intensity of the storms
itself that are on Saturn.
And it's been noted that the storms on both Saturn and Jupiter (who had to come back to
this list...) are much more intense than storms on Earth.
1.
Leaving The Solar System As you hopefully know by now, the universe
is a pretty big place, and because of that, it's very hard for anything from Earth to
go out very far into the universe at large.
For the Voyager Space Probe, it was the first man-made object to go incredible far, and
it's still going.
But one of the creepy things it did was it sent a graph back to NASA (who then turned
it into a sound) and "showed" them it crossing into the space beyond our solar system.
As you'll hear if you listen, it's a very creepy rendition of "crossing the border".
Yet it's also a landmark achievement that can't be denied.
Because who knows when humanity is going to make that crossing itself.
...but seriously, did it have to be so creepy?
Thanks for watching everyone!
What did you think of these scary signals from space?
Which do you think is the most terrifying of the lot?
Which do you think might be scary in a different context?
Let me know in the comments below, be sure to subscribe, and I'll see you next time on
the channel!