Sounds converted from plasma waves in outer space will form the basis of a musical performance in Iowa this Saturday. A physicist at the University of Iowa has been recording the waveforms for over 40 years with instruments on NASA's Voyagers, Galileo, Cassini, and over 24 additional spacecraft. Data was captured near Jupiter, Venus, and other planets, then transformed into sound patterns. The resulting tones became the conceptual basis of a musical composition called "Sun Rings," which the Kronos Quartet will debut October 26 at the University of Iowa's Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City. Excerpt from the NASA JPL press release:
"Samples of the type of sounds converted from plasma wave instruments are available online here.
One from Galileo's studies of Ganymede's magnetosphere is here.
One from Voyager's passage through the bow shock of the solar wind against Jupiter's magnetosphere is here.
One from Cassini, also of the interaction between the solar wind and Jupiter's magnetosphere, is here."
