Data Sonification

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• A Tour of Data Sonification: Sounds from Around the Milky Way
  “The center of our Milky Way galaxy is too distant for us to visit in person, but we can still explore it. Telescopes gives us a chance to see what the Galactic Center looks like in different types of light. By translating the inherently digital data captured by telescopes in space into images, astronomers create visual representations that would otherwise be invisible to us. But what about experiencing these images with other senses like hearing? Sonification is the process that translates data into sound, and a new project brings the center of the Milky Way to listeners for the first time. As the bar moves from left to right across the image, the sounds represent the position and brightness of the sources detected by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope, and Spitzer Space Telescope. The light of objects located towards the top of the image are heard as higher pitches while the intensity of the light controls the volume. Each type of light reveals different phenomena in this region, which is roughly 400 light years across at a distance of about 26,000 light years from Earth. The supermassive black hole at the center of the Galaxy, called Sagittarius A*, resides in the bright region to the lower right of the image.” - Chandra X-ray Observatory
• Crab Nebula Sonification
  "The Crab Nebula has been studied by people since it first appeared in Earth's sky in 1054 A.D. Modern telescopes have captured its enduring engine powered by a quickly spinning neutron star that formed when a massive star collapsed. The combination of rapid rotation and a strong magnetic field generates jets of matter and anti-matter flowing away from its poles, and winds outward from its equator. For the translation of these data into sound, which also pans left to right, each wavelength of light has been paired with a different family of instruments. X-rays from Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue and white) are brass, optical light data from Hubble Space Telescope (purple) are strings, and infrared data from Spitzer (pink) can be heard in the woodwinds. In each case, light received towards the top of the image is played as higher pitched notes and brighter light is played louder. (NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)"
• The Sound of Space (Use Your Headphones)
  “In space, electromagnetic vibrations exist and can be mapped as sound. These electromagnetic vibrations pulsate in different wavelengths and can be recorded by sepcial equipment in NASA's spacecrafts. The recordings are then translated into sounds that our ears could hear.”
• This Blind Astrophysicist 'Sees' the Universe in the Most Amazing Way
  "Wanda Diaz-Merced studies the universe through sound. After losing her eyesight in early adulthood, she found a way to continue her work as an astrophysicist by converting scientific data into sound."