@nasawebb

🔉 You'll want to hear this. In this video, each of Webb's two views of the Southern Ring Nebula — in near-infrared light (top) and mid-infrared light (bottom) — has been adapted to sound. While sounds were not actually recorded in space, the colors in the images were mapped to pitches of sound, with frequencies of light converted directly to frequencies of sound. Near-infrared light is represented by a higher range of frequencies at the beginning of the track. Mid-way through, the notes change, becoming lower overall to reflect that mid-infrared includes longer wavelengths of light. When it comes to space, for many of us beautiful imagery is what comes to mind. Sonifications are audio interpretations of scientific data that offer another way to experience the universe. While they are intended to support blind and low-vision listeners first, they are also designed to captivate all listeners. Listen carefully at 15 seconds and 44 seconds. These notes align with the centers of the near- and mid-infrared images, where the stars at the center of the “action” appear. In the near-infrared image that begins the track, only one star is heard clearly, with a louder clang. In the second half of the track, listeners will hear a low note just before a higher note, which denotes that two stars were detected in mid-infrared light. The lower note represents the redder star that created this nebula, and the second is the star that appears brighter and larger. "When I first heard a sonification, it struck me in a visceral, emotional way that I imagine sighted people experience when they look up at the night sky," said Christine Malec, a member of the blind and low vision community who served as a consultant on this project. "When I listen, I’m engaged in a really unique way because I know that each tiny sound has meaning and represents something vast in the cosmos." More on sonifications at the link in our bio! Credits: Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI; Accessibility Production: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and Kimberly Arcand (CXC/SAO), Matt Russo and Andrew Santaguida (SYSTEM Sounds), Quyen Hart (STScI), Claire Blome (STScI), and Christine Malec (consultant).