Sir Arthur Eddington (1882-1944)
This image is in the public domain.

Sounds of the Stars

Sir Arthur Eddington is the author of a book called The Internal Constitution of the Stars. He wrote: "At first sight it would seem that the deep interior of the sun and stars is less accessible... than any other region of the universe. What appliance can pierce through the outer layers of a star and test the conditions within?" The answer to his question is now known. The sounds of the stars.

Geologists use earthquakes to understand the interior of the earth. In a similar way, astronomers can learn about the insides of stars that pulsate. These pulsations are like very low sound waves moving through the star. If we could make the waves move a million times faster, we could hear the sounds of the stars!

Different types of stars would have different sounds. Making sounds like our own Sun is the nearby star alpha Centauri (click to listen). A giant star like xi Hydrae has a deeper tone. A tiny white dwarf star like GD 358 plays the higher notes. One astronomer has even worked with a composer to create a unique kind of music from these sounds.

Last modified December 22, 2004 by Travis Metcalfe.

You might also be interested in:

Traveling Nitrogen Classroom Activity Kit

Check out our online store - minerals, fossils, books, activities, jewelry, and household items!...more

Starspots

You may have heard of sunspots that sometimes dot the "surface" of the nearest star, our Sun. Well, other stars have spots too. They are called starspots and are relatively cool, dark regions on the visible...more

Magnitude - a measure of brightness

Astronomers use a special term to talk about the brightness of stars. The term is "magnitude". The magnitude scale was invented by the ancient Greeks around 150 B.C. The Greeks put the stars they could...more

Northern Circumpolar Constellations

Because of the rotation of the Earth and its orbit around the Sun, we divide the stars and constellations into two groups. Some stars and constellations never rise nor set, and they are called circumpolar....more

Gamma Ray Bursts - The Most Powerful Objects in the Universe?

In the 1960's, the United States launched some satellites to look for very high energy light, called Gamma Rays. Gamma Rays are produced whenever a nuclear bomb explodes. The satellites found many bursts...more

Galaxies

During the early 1900's, which is not very long ago, astronomers were unaware that there were other galaxies outside our own Milky Way Galaxy. When they saw a small fuzzy patch in the sky through their...more

Neutron Stars

Neutron Stars are the end point of a massive star's life. When a really massive star runs out of nuclear fuel in its core the core begins to collapse under gravity. When the core collapses the entire star...more

Spiral Galaxies

Spiral galaxies may remind you of a pinwheel. They are rotating disks of mostly hydrogen gas, dust and stars. Through a telescope or binoculars, the bright nucleus of the galaxy may be visible but the...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA