It's not Beethoven or Mozart, but the "music" of the stars yields its own surprising symphony. Scientists have been listening to the sound waves of the constellations for a few years now, reports the BBC, but a new telescope has allowed them to more accurately interpret the vibrations they hear.
And interesting vibes they are, too. Listen to the Sun's low, gravelly oscillations, and you'll hear an aboriginal didgeridoo. A galaxy cluster, meanwhile, sounds like the cartoon effects of The Jetsons' airborne cars. Where astero-seismology is concerned, it seems that science fact isn't far from science fiction.
Astronomers speaking at this month's American Association for the Advancement of Science say that the Kepler Space Telescope, which measures the size and age of stars when it tunes in to their vibrations, provides far more accurate measurements than any other technology we possess. As a result, stars hundreds of light years away can be intricately mapped from the inside out, much in the same way seismologists use sound waves to study the Earth's interior.
As this database of information continues to grow, scientists are excited by the new data it presents. Understanding the dynamics of stars allows us to better understand how galaxies - including our little corner of the Milky Way - are created and sustained.
Can you feel the vibe?
