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X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Sonification: NASA/CXC/SAO/K. Arcand, M. Russo & A. Santaguida

Musical Renditions of Milky Way Observations

On September 22, 2020, NASA's Chandra X-ray Center released musical renditions, or sonifications of the Milky Way that were created by U of T Physics' Matt Russo and a colleague.

Hear the sounds on the Chandra X-ray Center webpage:
https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2020/sonify/

In a story published by Science News on October 16, 2020 Matt Russo who is also a musician says “Listening to the data gives [people] another dimension to experience the universe.”

When Christine Malec, a musician and astronomy enthusiast who is blind first heard the sounds she said “I had goosebumps, because I felt like I was getting a faint impression of what it’s like to perceive the night sky, or a cosmological phenomenon,” (credit: Science News).

Read more on this story in Science News:
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/space-images-music-astronomy-accessible-sonification

Matt did this project with his collaborator in SYSTEM Sounds (system-sounds.com) and says they are going to do a few more sets with over the next few months, so stay tuned.

Read more about Matt's astronomy outreach project SYSTEM SOUNDS in Toronto at:
https://www.system-sounds.com/

Read more on CBC IDEAS:
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/music-on-mars-if-you-thought-space-was-silent-take-a-closer-listen-1.6029648