Songs from the stars
Plato, the Greek philosopher and mathematician, described music and astronomy as “sister sciences” that encompassed harmonious motions, whether of instrument strings or celestial objects. This philosophy of a “Music of the Spheres” was symbolic. However, modern technology is creating a true music of the spheres by transforming astronomical data into unique musical compositions. Gerhard Sonnert, a research associate at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, has created a new website that allows listeners to literally hear the music of the stars. He worked with Wanda Diaz-Merced, a postdoctoral student at the University of Glasgow whose blindness led her into the field of sonification (turning astrophysical data into sound), and with composer Volkmar Studtrucker, who turned the sound into music. “I saw the musical notes on Wanda’s desk and I got inspired,” Sonnert said. Diaz-Merced lost her sight in her early 20s while studying physics. When she visited an astronomy lab and heard the hiss...