Hearing the Universe, Touching the Stars

Posted on February 24, 2024 by Brian H. Gill
SYSTEM Sounds: 'The rhythmic subdivisions of the transiting TRAPPIST-1 planets. The resonances are clearly visible (ex. there are 3 notes of TRAPPIST-1g for every 2 notes of TRAPPIST-1h). The patterns have been shifted to show their actual relative timing.'
TRAPPIST-1 planets: orbital rhythm from SYSTEM Sounds.

A musician who’s also a scientist found music in TRAPPIST-1 data. Meanwhile, 3D models help folks ‘see’ galaxies: and I found a Lenten connection in all that.

Sonification and Switching Senses for Science

ESO/IAU, Sky and Telescope's star chart: Aquarius constellation, with TRAPPIST-1 location marked by red circle. Media created by European Southern Observatory (ESO).
TRAPPIST-1 location marked by red circle. ESO/IAU, Sky and Telescope, via Wikipedia,
NASA's TRAPPIST-1 system in 3D interactive visualization: TRAPPIST-1 and the orbits of its seven known planets
From NASA’s interactive 3D interactive visualization of the TRAPPIST-1 system.

I’d planned on geeking out over music, mathematics, and Kepler’s Musica Universalis.

But you’re in luck. Along with the rest of this household, I’ve been experiencing a week of ‘nothing serious’. I’ll share a music video, some images and text from SYSTEM Sounds (the folks who made that music video), and let you visit their website for more details.

Then I’ll talk about why scientists have been turning sights in to sounds. And occasionally into shapes.

TRAPPIST-1: A Planetary System With Resonance and Rhythm

From 'Star Wars', George Lucas (1977): Mos Eisley cantina band.The last time I checked, the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system’s inner two worlds lack significant atmospheres. Probably.1

So the odds of finding life on any of those seven planets, let alone folks like the Star Wars cantina musicians, is — very low. Again, probably.

But, thanks to musician-scientists here on Earth, we do have music from that not-so-distant star and its planets.

“Seeing the Universe Without Sight”
Isobel Swafford, Sky & Telescope (March 2024)

“Creative minds are finding ways to explore and share the wonders of the cosmos without visual aids.

“Look up at the night sky and then close your eyes. The twinkling stars and distant worlds disappear.

“Now imagine you hear a repeating piano note. Rhythmic and regular, it tolls like a bell.

“A new note interrupts the drone, adding itself to the noise. Higher in pitch, it comes in at a slightly faster tempo. A few beats later more notes chime in, each higher in pitch and speed. Finally, the last note arrives a staccato pings, beeping like a metal detector over hidden treasure.

“The instruments making this cacophony are the Trappist-1 exoplanets, a system of seven alien planets orbiting a red dwarf star 40 light-years away from us….”

That Sky & Telescope article describes how Matt Russo, astrophysicist/musician and Andrew Santaguida, musician, looked at data from the TRAPPIST-1 system and realized that they were looking at music.

“…’We didn’t even know what sonification was at that time,’ says Santaguida. ‘Matt just saw that the resonances of the planets made music.’…”
“Seeing the Universe Without Sight”
Isobel Swafford, Sky and Telescope (March 2024)

I think it sounds cool. Your experience may vary.


“TRAPPIST Sounds : TRAPPIST-1 Planetary System Translated Directly Into Music”
SYSTEM Sounds (2017) via YouTube

SYSTEM Sounds: 'Sound waves with frequencies determined by scaling the planets' orbital frequencies into the human hearing range. We set the outermost planet to a C note (130.81 Hz) and let physics do the rest. You can also see the resonances here, for example, 3 full wavelengths of planet g occur for every 2 wavelengths of planet h. Letters on left of image refer to planet names, not note names....'
SYSTEM Sounds: “Sound waves with frequencies determined by scaling the planets’ orbital frequencies into the human hearing range.
We set the outermost planet to a C note (130.81 Hz) and let physics do the rest….”
SYSTEM Sounds: 'The rhythmic subdivisions of the conjunctions of TRAPPIST-1 planets with each pair of neighbouring planets assigned to a different drum....'
SYSTEM Sounds: “The rhythmic subdivisions of the conjunctions of TRAPPIST-1 planets with each pair of neighbouring planets assigned to a different drum….”

SYSTEM Sounds: 'The simple period ratios of the TRAPPIST-1 planets create musical harmony when played as sound waves....'Here’s some of what SYSTEM Sounds had to say about “TRAPPIST Sounds”.

“TRAPPIST-1“
SYSTEM Sounds
“…To assign a pitch to each planet we scaled the orbital frequencies into the human hearing range so that TRAPPIST-1h completes its 18.76 day orbit 130.81 times each second (130.81 Hz). This is equivalent to speeding up time by about 212 million times and the resulting note is known as C3. Since the frequencies of the interior planets are related to this ‘fundamental’ frequency by simple whole number ratios, they create a consonant harmony of stacked musical intervals. In fact, the orbital frequencies are not exactly whole number ratios and this discrepancy causes some notes to sound slightly out of tune, giving TRAPPIST-1 its own distinctive signature….”

“…The gravitational tug between planets is greatest when they reach mutual conjunction, i.e., when a faster inner planet overtakes its outer neighbour. TRAPPIST Beat is created by assigning a different drum to conjunctions of each adjacent pair of planets. This rhythm is related to the pulses of TRAPPIST Melody but is more sparse since the proximity of the planets to one another, and thus their similar orbital speeds, means that each planet may complete several orbits (and transits) before passing one of its neighbours. Resisting the urge to use trap-style drums, we assigned each pair of planets to a different element of a standard drum kit, starting with a kick drum for every conjunction of planets g and h….”

As far as I know, “TRAPPIST Sounds…” is mainly fun listening.

But converting visual information into sound — or shapes — can help scientists study large data sets in new ways.

Scientific Sonification and the Cocktail Party Effect

NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)'s' graph: 'This graph compares the measured brightness of TRAPPIST-1 c to simulated brightness data for three different scenarios. The measurement (red diamond) is consistent with a bare rocky surface with no atmosphere (green line) or a very thin carbon dioxide atmosphere with no clouds (blue line).' (June 19, 2023) via Sky and TelescopeHumans are very ‘visual’ creatures. But we have, and use, other senses.

For example, we pick up a broader frequency range than we see. That’s comparing apples and kumquats, but I’ll let it stand. The point is that, in some ways, our ears ‘see’ better than our eyes.

For one thing, our hearing is better than sight at spotting quick changes or patterns in time: rhythm, in other words.

We’re also better at focusing on something specific in a garble of background noise, than we are in picking out something specific with our eyes. Scientists call this knack for pulling a meaningful signal out of static the cocktail party effect.

I think science and scientists have become much less stuffy over the last few generations, and that’s another topic.

Back to sonification.

Formatting data as sound isn’t new. It goes back at least to 1908, when Geiger counters clicked faster when exposed to more radiation. Or 1928, when Geiger counters became practical tools.

Scientific sonification often isn’t as melodic as the SYSTEM Sounds piece and other ‘outreach’ examples. But it can be very useful.

Particularly for folks like Wanda Diaz-Merced, astronomer; and Garry Foran, astronomer and physicist. They both deal with distinctly sub-par vision.

Astronomer Chris Harrison has good-enough vision. But he learned that sonification makes parsing very large amounts of data easier. His ears don’t get tired as fast as his eyes.2

Tactile Perception: Making Mental Maps With 3D Models

From Isabel Swafford's 'Seeing the Universe Without Sight', Sky and Telescope (March 2024) image of M51 and NGC 5195, converted by outreach astronomers in the UK to raised-relief representations. Increased height of bumps shows increased brightness.Touch is another previously-overlooked sense for astronomical studies.

Until very recently, folks with insufficient vision — or whatever the proper term is — could read astronomical texts in braille: which is arguably better than nothing.

But a verbal description of a galaxy can only go so far.

Nicolas Bonne, astronomer, and his colleagues made 3D prints of astronomical objects — mainly as outreach media, letting folks get acquainted with astronomy through their fingers.

Maybe building mental maps through touch will help scientists ‘see’ objects and phenomena in new ways.

Then there’s Noreen Grice, who’s made books with 3D printed tactile (images?) of astronomical phenomena:3 including “Touch the Stars” and “Touch the Universe”.

A Grain and Galaxies: Comparing the Incomparable

ESA, Hubble and NASA, M. Gregg's image: The galaxy NGC 4848, with '...myriad more distant and delightfully diverse galaxies ... in the background....' (posted by NASA July 24, 2020) text by ESA, used w/o permission
Galaxy NGC 4848, with thousands more in the distance. (Hubble/ESA/NASA image)

I’m a Catholic and this season is Lent. Besides my daily and weekly routines, I should be getting ready for our celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection at Easter.

So how come I’m reading and writing about resonating planets and 3D ‘images’ of stars and galaxies?

For one thing, that’s part of my weekly routine. When I’m not writing about something else, that is.

For another, this magnificent universe reminds me of how unimaginably — well, unimaginable — God is.

Which very likely explains why folks have compared the more impressive parts of this creation to God, who creates and sustains them. And us, for that matter.

“Indeed, before you the whole universe is like a grain from a balance,
or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth.
“But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things;
and you overlook sins for the sake of repentance.”
(Wisdom 11:2–23)

“The heavens declare the glory of God;
“the firmament proclaims the works of his hands.”
(Psalms 19:2)

“Terrible and awesome are you,
stronger than the ancient mountains.”
(Psalms 76:5)

“Yours are the heavens, yours the earth;
you founded the world and everything in it.”
(Psalms 89:12)

“The one who is enthroned above the vault of the earth,
its inhabitants like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a veil
and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in,”
(Isaiah 40:22)

More; mostly stars, science, and stuff:

1 A nearby (by cosmic standards) planetary system:

2 Sound, sight, and — something I didn’t talk about this week — synesthesia:

3 Reformatting visual data:

  • Wikipedia
  • Dr Nicolas Bonne, Public Engagement and Outreach Fellow
    University of Portsmouth
  • “Seeing the Universe Without Sight”
    Isobel Swafford, Sky & Telescope (March 2024)
  • “To Touch the Heavens“, Noreen Grice has given the visually impaired a feel for the universe
    David L. Chandler, Smithsonian Magazine (August 2003)

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About Brian H. Gill

I was born in 1951. I'm a husband, father and grandfather. One of the kids graduated from college in December, 2008, and is helping her husband run businesses and raise my granddaughter; another is a cartoonist and artist; #3 daughter is a writer; my son is developing a digital game with #3 and #1 daughters. I'm also a writer and artist.
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