IFL Science – by Lisa WinterThe Rosetta spacecraft and its Philae lander have a lot to teach scientists about what Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko looks like, is composed of, and even what it smells like, but what does the comet sound like? The day before Philae made history by landing on the surface of the comet, ESA released an audio clip of 67P/C-G singing. Unfortunately, its song is creepy as hell and sounds a lot like Predator, the alien that tried to kill Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Of course, sound waves can’t travel through space, so it isn’t a direct audio recording. Instead, Rosetta’s Plasma Consortium (RPC) picked up variations in the magnetic field around the comet, due to interactions between 67P/C-G’s coma and the plasma from the Sun, better known as solar wind. These variations resulted in frequencies between 40 to 50 millihertz, about 10,000 times lower than can be detected by humans. ESA scientists altered the frequency of the comet’s song into human hearing range, and discovered it was a series of clicks that are very reminiscent of Predator’s growl.
RPC scientists first picked up on these fluctuations in August as Rosetta approached the comet, but it isn’t entirely clear what is causing them.
“This is exciting because it is completely new to us. We did not expect this and we are still working to understand the physics of what is happening,” RPC principal investigator Karl-Heinz Glaßmeier said in a press release.
For now, the team’s best guess is that neutral material that is shedding off of the comet is becoming ionized, or charged, by the solar wind. As of right now, the mechanism that would accomplish that task is not known.
For a comparison, click here to listen to Predator’s clicking growl.
[Hat tip: CNET]http://www.iflscience.com/space/rosetta-s-comet-sounds-lot-predator
No one can hear you scream in space, but comets and planets do emit radio frequency sounds caused by solar electrical discharges passing through them. E.g. Saturn’s radio frequency emissions:
http://www.nasa.gov/wav/123163main_cas-skr1-112203.wav
Comets are NOT dirty snowballs; otherwise, they would melt before they even passed near the Sun. I have to agree with James McCanney, M.S. Physics: Comets are solar discharging capacitors which are driven by solar winds (positive-charged protons emitted from stars). If you don’t want to listen to his entire lecture, go to 6:00 in this short audio recording to hear his explanation of comets.
Several years ago, I took my Granddaughter to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, PA. The planetarium had a presentation on comets, where they were described by the narrator as: “dirty snowballs”. I took the opportunity to speak with the narrator of the show and asked him how a dirty snowball can pass near or THROUGH the Sun without melting?
The narrator looked somewhat pissed that I would ask a question in front of his assembly of visitors, which contradicted his entire lecture. He replied: “This is the General Accepted Theory of Astronomers”. He then quickly brushed me off to answer other peoples’ questions.
I believe it has been known for over a century, that there is more free energy in the Universe than we could ever harness. Tesla had eloquently demonstrated this fact, until he was unjustifiably ridiculed by the scientific community, and then cut-off from needed financing. Just think how much wealth Tesla could have accumulated if he hadn’t sold his patent rights to 3-phase AC power distribution and induction motors to George Westinghouse in 1888. Tesla was only interested in his scientific work–not the value or profit margins of his products.
http://www.teslauniverse.com/nikola-tesla-timeline-1888-tesla-sells-ac-patents
Great post, Cathleen!