The Sound of the Universe · A Planet in Transit

TrES-2 b is a giant planet that passes in front of its star every 2.47 days, covering about 1.4 percent of the star's light as it crosses. In the Kepler space telescope's measurement from September-December 2009 the star's light was turned into the brightness of the sound: so that the dip can be heard, this small drop was enlarged into a two-octave darkening. First the real curve is heard slowly (one day is 40 seconds, two transits), then the same transit ten times faster, once per orbit: the dip becomes a rhythm. Most exoplanets were found this way, from small dips in their star's light. This is a sonification, not a recording from space: data or measured numbers were turned into sound with a stated mapping. There is no claim of any effect.

8 minNo headphones neededEvidence level S: Soundscape, no claim

Liner notes

Body: Cluster drone · 165 Hz
What do you hear?: tonal · continuous · narrow

A single layer; generated on this device every time it plays.

How is this sound made?

Cluster drone−14 dB
Cluster drone · root 165 Hz, 3 oscillators

Reverb: hall, 18% mix

In the room you can listen to each layer on its own, change its settings and save it as your own recipe.

Sound is generated on this device in real time; no files are downloaded from a server. There is a 6 s fade-in at the start and a 0 min fade-out at the end.

Compare with another sound

Hear both at the same loudness; drag the slider to the middle and they blend.

These two sounds can't share one recipe (different tuning or effects): listen to the samples one after the other.

B: neighbours on the map

Another sound

What do we know, what don't we know?

S · Soundscape, no claim

No health or mental-effect claim at all; it is simply a soundscape.

This session isn't linked to any claim of effect.

A session's level is the weakest of its linked claims; it is never raised by a strong but unrelated claim.

Its neighbours on the map

The five sounds closest to this one by measured sound features.

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