Heard the Sound of the Stars? Cepheid Variable Star, RS Puppis' Data Transcribed into Reverb Using Sonification Treatment

You can now hear the sounds of space around one of the most stunning stars in the Milky Way. The science-art outreach project SYSTEM Sounds has given the Cepheid variable star RS Puppis, which is approximately 6,500 light-years away, the data sonification treatment. They converted the light from a Hubble image of the star into sound, assigning pitch to the direction from the image's center and volume to the light's brightness.

You can hear a higher pitch at the top of the image and a lower pitch at the bottom as you listen to the sounds below; If the surround sound is turned on, the left and right speakers will play the music. The sound gets louder as the circle gets closer to the bright star in the middle, culminating in a single sound convergence.

The Sound of RS Puppis

Sonifying the Universe not only provides yet another means of experiencing the wonders of the universe but there are also several really good reasons to do so. First and foremost, transforming visual data into auditory data makes it more accessible to people who are blind or have limited vision. It can also provide a fresh point of view, making difficult concepts simpler to comprehend.

By displaying patterns, weaker signals, or information that would be lost in the noise, it can also reveal details in the data that would otherwise be overlooked. That would be a potent instrument for a Cepheid variable star, which is one of the galaxy's most useful stars. The brightness of these stars varies frequently; The period lasts about six weeks for RS Puppis. For Cepheid variables, there is a known and distinct relationship between the star's periodicity and its brightness, unlike for other stars, whose brightness varies.

Now, cepheids are divided into two distinct groups. The classical Cepheids, which have periods ranging from about 1.5 days to more than 50 days, are part of the Population I class of relatively young stars that are mostly found in the spiral arms of galaxies. Population II Cepheids, on the other hand, are much older, have less light, and are less massive than their Population I counterparts.

(Photo : (NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-Hubble/Europe Collaboration))
Hubble's image of RS Puppis.

ALSO READ: NASA Hubble Space Telescope Data Mysteriously Solves Universe Expansion Rate

Intense Light From Cepheid Variable

They are divided into two categories: BL Herculis stars with periods of a few days or less and W Virginis stars with periods of approximately 10 days or more, according to Britannica. Therefore, once you have the timing of a Cepheid variable, you will be able to precisely determine its intrinsic brightness-not just how bright it appears to us on Earth but also how much light it produces. Additionally, you can determine its distance from you by determining its brightness. This indicates that we can map galaxy distances by employing Cepheid variables.

Dust also surrounds RS Puppis, the brightest Cepheid variable with an average brightness 15,000 times that of the Sun. A more intense flash of light is released into the dust when the star becomes brighter. A light echo is produced as this light is reflected off the dust; This is what causes the star's beautiful silvery rings to form, as reported by Science Alert.

Scientists can learn more about the dust that fills the space between the stars by studying these rings and the properties of the dust. Since the star is already extremely well-studied, it is unclear whether the sonification of RS Puppis will teach us anything new. This sonification appears to be more about outreach than science. However, it's nice to experience one of our favorite stars in a new way.