NASA Voyager Recordings

Although sound does not propagate through interplanetary space in the same way that it carries in Earth's atmosphere, outer space being virtually devoid of atmosphere, there exist similar phenomena - such as electromagnetic vibration in plasma ejected by the Sun. The Voyager space probes launched by NASA gathered field recordings of the interaction between the solar wind and the magnetosphere of various planets and moons in the Solar System. This interaction results in vibration within the range of 20 Hz to 20 kHz, which is also the range of human hearing. When returned to Earth these field recordings can be made audible, allowing us to hear the distinctive sounds that planets and moons generate in the solar weather. NASA has released at least two different series of these field recordings. They are listed here in order of popularity: 1. Symphonies of the Planets (5 disc set) Symphonies of the Planets 1 Symphonies of the Planets 2 Symphonies of the Planets 3 Symphonies of the Planets 4 Symphonies of the Planets 5 2. NASA Space Sounds (10 disc set) Jupiter Miranda Neptune Rings of Uranus Saturn's Rings Saturn Song of Earth Sphere of Io Uranus Voice of Earth 3. miscellaneous Space Sounds Music Celestial Love Songs (excerpts from the 10 disc set and Space Sounds Music) The material from both sets is almost entirely Voyager I and Voyager II recordings of various planets and moons. The Saturn, Saturn's Rings, Jupiter, Sphere of Io (a Jovian moon), Neptune, Uranus, Rings of Uranus and Miranda (a Uranian moon) recordings in the 10 disc set as well as the complete Symphonies of the Planets were all captured by these two probes. The 5 disc set ostensibly consists of a mix of recordings from the Voyager missions. This mix contains material from six sources: 1. the interaction of the solar wind and the magnetosphere of a planet, which "releases charged ionic particles within a vibration frequency in an audible range (20 - 20,000Hz)". 2. From a planet's magnetosphere itself. 3. From the trapped radio waves bouncing between the planet and the inner surface of its atmosphere. 4. Electromagnetic field noise within space itself. 5. From charged particle interactions of the planet, its moons, and the solar wind. 6. From charged particle emissions from the rings of certain planets. In addition to the Voyager recordings, the Voice of Earth CD from the 10 disc set contains field recordings of Earth's magnetosphere in the solar wind captured by the International Sun-Earth Explorer (ISEE), the Explorer 52 (or "Hawkeye") satellite, and the Interplanetary Monitoring Platform (IMP). The Song of Earth and Space Sounds Music CDs contain musical "compositions" of the field recordings, assembled by Dr. Jeffrey Thompson. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.