Supernova Sonata Makes Music From the Stars

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Supernova Sonata Makes Music From the Stars

University researchers have turned three years of supernova explosions captured by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope into haunting, beautiful music.

From April 2003 until August 2006 the University of Victoria [http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/], "and can be seen across vast distances in space."

Even though the telescope was only able to monitor about 1/10,000th of the entire sky, 241 Type 1a supernovas were detected and recorded. Parker, along with University of California Santa Barbara astronomer Melissa L. Graham, compiled the interstellar explosions into a video, with one second of footage representing roughly two weeks of real-time observation, and set it all to music.

But not just any music. Each supernova was assigned a musical note based on the following criteria:


Volume = Distance: The volume of the note is determined by the distance to the supernova, with more distant supernova being quieter and fainter.
Pitch = "Stretch:" The pitch of the note was determined by the supernova's "stretch," a property of how the supernova brightens and fades. Higher stretch values played higher notes. The pitches were drawn from a Phrygian dominant scale.
Instrument = Mass of Host Galaxy: The instrument the note was played on was determined by the properties of the galaxy which hosted each supernova. Supernovae hosted by massive galaxies are played with a stand-up bass, while supernovae hosted by less massive galaxies are played with a grand piano.


The resulting "Supernova Sonata" is a short but strangely beautiful and contemplative song, played out against a night sky that most of us will never get to see. "Note that the brightness of the supernovae as shown in the animation are not to scale," Parker explained. "Because they are so distant, even these extremely powerful explosions appear very faint upon reaching us here on Earth." Not the most practical application of the science of astronomy, perhaps, but definitely one of the most sublime.

via: io9 [http://io9.com/5805781/three-years-of-supernova-explosions-become-beautiful-music]




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Disembodied_Dave

The Could-Have-Been-King
Feb 5, 2009
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Well that's pretty cool.

It's not really a sonata though. However if it was actually in sonata form, that would be a real crazy coincidence.
 

The Real Sandman

New member
Oct 12, 2009
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Interesting.

I wonder what kind of odds need to be at play if a series of supernovae were to be in synch with the Atom Heart Mother suite?