If you're more of an acoustic student than a visual one, this timelapse video is for you. (And, well, visual students will most likely like it, too!)
The European Space Agency (ESA) has actually launched an audio-visual representation of solar activity over the last 3 years, pulling information from its Solar Orbiter probe, which it keeps up NASA.
In the video, we see blue circles turning up throughout the surface area of the sun– and audible tones coupled with each of these circles. As time advances towards today day, the frequency of the blue circles and their sonifications boosts.
A screenshot of ESA's brand-new animation and sonification of solar activity, which is based upon information from the Solar Orbiter objective. (Image credit: ESA & & NASA/Solar Orbiter/EUI & & STIX, Klaus Nielsen (DTU Space/Maple Pools))
To produce the video, ESA integrated images from 2 of Solar Orbiter's instruments– the Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) and the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI). STIX recorded the area and size of X-rays produced by solar flares, which are now represented with those blue circles, while the EUI images display the sun's external environment in yellow.
The boost in the frequency and size of the solar flares associates to the sun's development towards solar optimum, the peak of activity in its 11-year cycle. According to NASA and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, we're in solar optimum today. (And that makes the next year approximately prime-time television for seeing the northern lights.)
Related: Space weather condition: What is it and how is it anticipated?
When it comes to the focusing and out in the video, that's due to Solar Orbiter's elliptical orbit. Every 6 months, the spacecraft makes a close method to the sun. You not just see this represented in the video aesthetically however likewise hear it through the background humming– that sound mirrors the distance of the spacecraft and the sun, getting louder when they're better together and quieter as they move apart.
Breaking area news, the most recent updates on rocket launches, skywatching occasions and more!
The sonification was produced by Klaus Nielsen (DTU Space/ Maple Pools); you can listen to more of his work at https://linktr.ee/maplepools.
Join our Space Forums to keep talking area on the most recent objectives, night sky and more! And if you have a news pointer, correction or remark, let us understand at: community@space.com.
Space.com contributing author Stefanie Waldek is a self-taught area geek and air travel geek who is enthusiastic about all things spaceflight and astronomy. With a background in travel and style journalism, along with a Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University, she concentrates on the budding area tourist market and Earth-based astrotourism. In her spare time, you can discover her enjoying rocket launches or searching for at the stars, questioning what is out there. Find out more about her work at www.stefaniewaldek.com.
