NEW YORK. Scientists have discovered cosmic waves that sound remarkably like birds chirping, detected from an area of space where such phenomena had never been observed before.
These plasma bursts, known as chorus waves, vibrate at frequencies audible to the human ear. When converted to audio signals, they emit sharp, high-pitched sounds reminiscent of bird calls.
While similar sounds have been recorded in space previously, this new detection occurred over 62,000 miles (100,000 kilometers) from Earth, far beyond the areas where they’ve been observed.
“This opens up a lot of new questions about the physics that could be possible in this area,” commented Allison Jaynes, a space physicist at the University of Iowa who was not involved in the study.
The chorus waves were captured by NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) satellites, which were launched in 2015 to study the interactions between Earth’s and the sun’s magnetic fields. The findings were published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
A Decades-Long Mystery
The phenomenon of chorus waves has fascinated scientists for decades. These plasma waves were first recorded in the 1960s by antennas at an Antarctic research station. More recently, NASA’s Van Allen Probes picked up similar chirps from Earth’s radiation belts at much closer distances than the latest detection.
Chorus waves are also known to occur near other planets, including Jupiter and Saturn, and are considered one of the most significant and powerful wave phenomena in space. They can even generate high-energy electrons capable of disrupting satellite communications.
“They are one of the strongest and most significant waves in space,” explained Chengming Liu, the study’s lead author from Beihang University, in an email.
Unexpected Discovery
The newfound waves were detected in a region where Earth’s magnetic field is stretched out into space, a location where such perturbations were not anticipated. This raises new questions about how these waves are generated.
Scientists speculate that Earth’s magnetic field could play a role in producing the waves, but the exact mechanisms remain unclear.
“It’s very captivating, very compelling,” Jaynes remarked. “We definitely need to find more of these events.”
As researchers continue to investigate, these cosmic sounds could reveal more about the mysterious workings of space, offering insights into the universe’s complex and dynamic nature.
Gary P Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
- Gary P Hernalhttps://tutubi.ph/author/gary-hernal/
- Gary P Hernalhttps://tutubi.ph/author/gary-hernal/
- Gary P Hernalhttps://tutubi.ph/author/gary-hernal/
- Gary P Hernalhttps://tutubi.ph/author/gary-hernal/
