Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Solar Ultrasound - Bass Note In Music Of The Spheres
Ancient cosmology held that each of the planetary spheres corresponded to a different note in a universal musical scale. The tones emitted by the planets depended on the ratios of their different orbits in the same way that the length of a lyre-string determines its tone. The music of the spheres was contemplated by many respected philosophers, like Pythagoras, Plato, Pliny and Ptolemy. The English hermetic philospher Robert Fludd devised celestial scales that spanned three octaves, linking sub-planetary elemental worlds to angelic choruses beyond the stars.
(Robert Fludd's divine Monochord)
Now, in a letter published on December 10th in Astrophysical Journal Letters, researchers report that the Sun's atmosphere is filled with ultrasound-like waves at a frequency of about 100 millihertz - every ten seconds. "At 10-second period, these waves qualify as ultrasound because individual atoms on the Sun experience only a few collisions during the brief passage of each wave, just as with ultrasound here on Earth," says Dr. Craig DeForest, a senior research scientist in the SwRI Space Science and Engineering Division. DeForest found the signature in data collected in January 2003 in the TRACE program.
"These ripples seem to be carrying about 1 kilowatt of power per square meter on the surface of the Sun," says DeForest. "That is similar to the sonic energy you might find coming out of the speakers at a rock concert. Very loud."
Of course, sound cannot travel through the vacuum of interplanetary space. The TRACE spacecraft, in orbit around the Earth, is an ultraviolet telescope trained on the sun. TRACE data shows small fluctuations in the brightness of solar ultraviolet emissions. Solar ultrasound waves are too faint to be seen directly by TRACE. So, DeForest looked for patterns in the background noise of the telescope.
(From Solar Atmosphere)
This combined ultraviolet solar image shows the region of the solar atmosphere that was examined to find the waves. The full-Sun image was produced with the EIT telescope aboard the SOHO spacecraft (image courtesy of the SOHO EIT consortium), and the small inset shows the region that was examined with higher resolution by the TRACE telescope.
TRACE is the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer mission; it has an open data policy. TRACE data is available to anyone on the web. The intent of the program is to explore the magnetic field in the solar atmosphere; TRACE was launched in 1998 and uses a 30 centimeter apterture telescope with a 1024x1024 CCD collecting images over an 8.5 arc minute square field of view.
The waves or "ripples" are most likely created by the sudden collapse of magnetically induced electric currents (magnetic reconnection) or by lower frequency sound waves that crash like ocean waves as they make their way up from the surface of the Sun. Both of the sources are likely candidates for the source of the solar atmosphere's mysterious extra heat, making the new waves a valuable tool for exploring a decades-old mystery. "By examining these waves more closely, we should be able to discern the source of energy release in the solar atmosphere, just like you can tell by listening whether the car is running in a dark garage," says DeForest. "In both cases, something is releasing energy into the environment, and that release has a recognizable sonic signature."
(From Solar Ultrasound)
In this wave diagram, which summarizes nearly 1,000 TRACE images, the waves appear as sloped ridges, showing the presence of sound-like waves in the octave between 50 and 100 mHz. The waves travel about 1,000 times the speed of sound on Earth.
As far as I know, science fiction authors have never used a solar-sized mass as a musical instrument. However, sf is replete with other creative examples of instruments; see Isaac Asimov's visisonor or Jack Vance's stimic. Read more about TRACE, the music of the spheres and solar ultrasound.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 12/12/2004)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 5 )
Related News Stories - (" Space Tech ")
SpaceX EVA Spacesuit Tested By Polaris Dawn Crew
'Now, except for weight and heat, the same conditions prevail in this chamber as in space.' - Otto Willi Gail, 1929.
ESA To Build Moon Bases Brick By Printed LEGO Brick
'We made a crude , small cell and were delighted - and, I admit, somewhat surprised - to find it worked.' - John W. Campbell, 1950.
FLOAT Levitating Train On The Moon ala Clarke
'The low-slung monorail car, straddling its single track, bored through the shadows on a slowly rising course.' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1955.
SpaceX Intros Extravehicular Activity Suit
'Provision had been made to meet the terrific cold which we knew would be encountered the moment we had passed beyond the atmosphere.' - Garrett P. Serviss, 1898.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Chaffeur Robot Musashi Will Drive Your Regular Car
'What would you do,' Eric asked the robot cabdriver, 'if your wife had turned to stone, your best friend were a toad, and you had lost your job?'
Space Exporers! Now, You Can Drink Your Own Urine
'those suits they wear -- call them 'stillsuits' -- that reclaim the body's own water...'
SpaceX EVA Spacesuit Tested By Polaris Dawn Crew
'Now, except for weight and heat, the same conditions prevail in this chamber as in space.'
Automatic Bot Traffic Is 38 Percent Of HTTP Requests
'there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net...'
Shanghai Guidelines For Humanoid Robots
'Now, look, let's start with the three fundamental Rules of Robotics...'
Desktop TARS Robot From Interstellar
What's YOUR sarcasm setting?
Robots Can Now Have Smiling Faces With Human Skin
'I am a cybernetic organism...'
Virtual Rat Predicts Actual Rat Neural Activity
'..the synthetic intellects at the Place of Knowledge had far outstripped the minds of men.'
GoSun EV Solar Charger Drapes Onto Your Car
'...six square yards of sunpower screens.'
Rizon 4 Ironing Robot
'But after washing and drying clothes had to be smooth - free from fine lines and wrinkles ...'
Cognify - A Prison Of The Mind We've Seen Before In SF
'So I serve a hundred years in one day...'
Robot With Human Brain Organoid - 'A Thrilling Story Of Mechanistic Progress'
'A human brain snugly encased in a transparent skull-shaped receptacle.'
Goodness Gracious Me! Google Tries Face Recognition Security
'The actuating mechanism that should have operated by the imprint of her image on the telephoto cell...'
With Mycotecture, We'll Just Grow The Space Habitats We Need
'The only real cost was in the plastic balloon that guided the growth of the coral and enclosed the coral's special air-borne food.'
Can A Swarm Of Deadly Drones Take Out An Aircraft Carrier?
'The border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.'
WiFi and AI Team Up To See Through Walls
'The pitiless M rays pierced Earth and steel and densest concrete as if they were so much transparent glass...'
