When the Voyager program was investigating our planetary bodies in the late ’70s, NASA decided it would be fun to record the aural effects of the various phenomena in and around the jovian giants.
Fascinating recording of Jupiter sounds (electromagnetic “voices”) by NASA-Voyager. The complex interactions of charged electromagnetic particles from the solar wind, planetary magnetosphere etc. create vibration “soundscapes.” The pressures and temperatures deep in Jupiter are so high that gases form a gradual transition into liquids which are gradually compressed into a metallic “plasma” in which the molecules have been stripped of their outer electrons. The winds of Jupiter are a thousand metres per second relative to the rotating interior. Jupiter’s magnetic field is four thousand times stronger than Earth’s, and is tipped by 11° degrees of axis spin. This causes the magnetic field to wobble, which has a profound effect on trapped electronically charged particles. This plasma of charged particles is accelerated beyond the magnetosphere of Jupiter to speeds of tens of thousands of kilometres per second. It is these magnetic particle vibrations which generate some of the sound you hear on this recording.
This is totally awesome, and I believe that Jupiter could get a decent recording deal with Kranky. Wish the video’s intro didn’t rock the Papyrus font. I hate that shit. It’s the new Comic Sans. But the recording rules nonetheless. Space rock!
