Washington: The US space agency NASA has captured a haunting audio clip that features sound waves emanating from the vicinity of a supermassive black hole located 250 million light-years away.
These acoustic waves, originating near the black hole at the core of the Perseus galaxy cluster, were shifted up by 57 and 58 octaves to become audible to human ears.
NASA released this audio in 2022, marking the first occasion that these sound waves were isolated and made audible. While sound vibrations do exist in space, they are typically inaudible to us in their natural state.
In a remarkable finding in 2003, astronomers discovered acoustic waves spreading through the vast gas surrounding the supermassive black hole in the Perseus galaxy cluster, now known for its ghostly hum.
Hearing them in their original pitch is challenging, as they include the lowest note ever identified in the universe by humans, which is far below the range of human hearing.
NASA’s recent sonification significantly amplified these sound waves to provide a sense of their potential resonance through intergalactic space.
The lowest note, identified in 2003 as a B-flat, resonates over 57 octaves below middle C, with a frequency that occurs once every 10 million years. Notably, the lowest note detectable by the human ear occurs at a frequency of one-twentieth of a second.
These sound waves, extracted from the supermassive black hole, were played in a counterclockwise direction from the center to be audible from all directions, at pitches 144 quadrillion and 288 quadrillion times higher than their original frequency.
Similar to other space recordings, this one also produced an eerie effect. The ‘intracluster medium,’ a denser and hotter expanse of gas and plasma drifting between galaxies, contrasts with the less dense intergalactic medium.
Since temperature regulates star formation, these sound waves may play a crucial role in the evolution of galaxy clusters over extended periods.
