While the looks of some planets have already been revealed, their sounds still remain a long-standing mystery.
Extraterrestrial Soundscapes
According to SciTechDaily, Timothy G. Leighton, who is from the University of Southampton in the UK, was able to come up with a novel software that makes sounds from extraterrestrial environments and predicts human voice changes in such far worlds.
Leighton explains in a statement that, for decades, cameras have been deployed to other planets across the solar system. These gadgets have undeniably enabled specialists to significantly learn from such cosmic objects. However, the sound of other planets has remained a mystery, that is, until the recent Mars Perseverance mission. This is where Leighton pulled his data from.
According to Interesting Engineering, Leighton's work reveals the alteration of sound absorption and speed due to other planets' atmospheres. For instance, Mars' carbon-rich and thin atmosphere is capable of absorbing more sound compared to Earth. Because of this, distant noises may sound more faint compared to that of Earth.
SciTechDaily adds that scientists could harness sounds across other planets in order to learn about their properties and characteristics that may require extensive tools to discover. This may include rock composition, ground roughness, and atmospheric temperature alterations.
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Could Sounds Be Used To Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence?
SciTechDaily adds that these cosmic sounds could also aid the search for alien life.
Europea, the icy moon of Jupiter, has been one of the main targets of several scientists, as they think that the moon is capable of harboring extraterrestrial life in its huge ocean that lies under its icy atmosphere. However, peering deeper into this is incredibly hard to pull off.
Leighton notes that rather than deploying a physical probe to examine the moon's ocean, sound waves could do the job instead. These waves can move toward the seabed and back. This would mean, in a way, that sound waves would do the exploration.
Moreover, considering how absorption and speed affects sound, specialists must know how sound moves in order to come up with and calibrate tools, such as speakers and microphones.
SciTechDaily adds that being able to know more about extraterrestrial soundscapes does not just hold scientific value but also entertaining value. For one, it may affect how science-fiction movies depict the sounds from distant worlds and make these audios more immersive and realistic.
The software will showcase otherworldly sounds at museums and planetariums. In Mars' case, actual sounds will be used, thanks to the Zhurong mission of China and the US and European team behind the Perseverance rover.
Leighton presented this work during the recent 184th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America. The demonstration serves as part of a special session that mixes planetary science and acoustic communities.
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