In the vast expanse of deep space, it is difficult to fathom that some stars may emit sounds reminiscent of a “warped ray gun”. However, cutting-edge technology now suggests that this is indeed the case. Scientists from Northwestern University have created simulations that unveil the “eerily fascinating” noises produced by twinkling stars. By converting the rippling waves of gas inside stellar cores into sound waves, the team has discovered that these luminous spheres often emit noises resembling weather sirens and distant humming in a “windswept terrain”.
Lead author Dr. Evan Anders explains, “Waves emerging from the core of a large star, for example, make sounds like a warped ray gun, blasting through an alien landscape.” This study marks the first time researchers have developed 3D simulations to understand the inner workings of stars. At the star’s core, intense pressure forces hydrogen atoms to fuse together, forming helium atoms and releasing excess energy. This energy generates heat, causing clumps of goo-like plasma to rise, similar to the movement inside a lava lamp. These waves then ripple outward to the star’s surface, compressing and decompressing the star’s plasma, resulting in brightening and dimming of the star’s light.
However, Dr. Anders reveals that other waves become trapped and continue to reverberate inside the star. Through their understanding of this phenomenon, scientists were able to convert the rippling waves of gas into sound waves, enabling people to hear the sounds of stars twinkling. Since these waves are outside the range of human hearing, the frequencies were adjusted to make them audible.
Additionally, the Northwestern team explored how different stars produce waves corresponding to various sounds. For larger stars, the “ray gun-like” pulses shift into a low echo reverberating through an empty room. Medium-sized stars evoke images of a persistent hum across a windswept terrain, while surface waves on small stars sound like a plaintive alert from a weather siren. To test the ability of stars to alter music, audio clips from “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and “The Planets” by Gustav Holst were passed through different stars. Dr. Anders remarks, “The stars change the music and, correspondingly, change how the waves would look if we saw them as twinkling on the star’s surface.”
In a groundbreaking discovery, the Northwestern team also determined the inherent brightness of stars. By developing a filter to examine how waves bounce within a real star, they were able to simulate how these waves would appear when observed through a powerful telescope. Dr. Anders explains, “Stars experience slight fluctuations in brightness due to internal dynamics which cause the twinkling effect. Our eyes are unable to detect this subtle twinkling, but advanced telescopes in the future may be capable of capturing it.”
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