The James Webb images were ‘sound’ by a specialized team.
NASA translated the first images from the James Webb Telescope into sound, under the process already known in the agency as “sonification.”
The images are translated from the raw data, taking the infrared wavelengths and assigning them a hue.
Space pictures you can hear
Soundscapes, including image translations of the Carina Nebula and the South Ring Nebula, use sonification to turn images and data into audio experiences.
“Music taps into our emotional centers,” said musician Matt Russo, a professor of physics at the University of Toronto who worked on the project. “Our goal is to make Webb’s images and data understandable through sound, helping listeners create their own mental images.”
The “Cosmic Cliffs” of the Carina Nebula , a stunning celestial object filled with stars, gas, and dust, becomes a sparkling, symphonic map. Gas and dust have drone-like hues. The orange and red bottom of the image is melodic.
On the South Ring Nebula side , the sound is more gloomy.
This is how an exoplanet sounds
Webb’s data on the atmosphere of the gas giant exoplanet WASP-96 b was also turned into a soundscape .
The sonifications bring a new dimension to James Webb ‘s discoveries and make the work of the telescope more accessible to blind and low vision space enthusiasts.