Skip to Content

Astronomers Make the Music of the Cosmos, by Turning Data into Sound

Matt Russo of Physics translates data captured by telescopes into music.
Matt Russo

During the pandemic, scientists with NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory found a new way to connect people – especially those who are blind or partly blind –  with the beauty of space. Kim Arcand, a visualization scientist for NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory at the Center for Astrophysics at Harvard and Smithsonian, and Matt Russo, a University of Toronto astrophysicist, translated data captured by telescopes into musical sounds. The result is 'sonic visualizations' of galaxy clusters, supernovas, black holes and more. The project is called A Universe of Sound.

See the full story and hear the Quirks and Quarks episode here:

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/jun-11-music-from-the-cosmos-thunderbird-extinction-hubble-gets-the-big-picture-and-more-1.6484175

More on Matt Russo here:
https://www.astromattrusso.com/