This is a continuation of my series The Musical Universe. I have received some interesting feedback on my previous posts and I really appreciate it. My first post in the Musical Universe series was about a black hole emanating a B-flat tone. My second post was about the Rhythm of the Sun. If you haven’t had a chance to read these, you can click here to catch up. This piece today is going to discuss a very interesting phenomenon that was detected in the rings of Saturn. It was discovered from experiments conducted by the Cassini space probe which is orbiting the planet Saturn. While the probe was beaming radio transmissions back to earth through the rings of Saturn, a harmonic rhythmic pattern was discovered. This was very much a surprise to the scientists. They detected order in such a potentially chaotic scenario. Here is an excerpt from NASA’s Jet Propulson Laboratory:
The pattern was detected when the radio on board the Cassini spacecraft sent out three signals toward Earth. The signals crossed the Saturn’s rings, and their frequencies were separated by scattering from the ring particles. Once the signals were captured by Earth-based antennas of NASA’s Deep Space Network, Cassini scientists saw a regular pattern in the received signal frequencies.
“The signals showed that the particle groups were arranged in an unexpectedly regular formation that had ‘rhythm within the rings of Saturn’”, said Marouf. “Each particle is in its own orbit, and sometimes they collide and move apart as their velocities change. As a result, you have particles bunched together into dense groups that extend across the ring in harmony with each other.”
To read more about this mission and the rhythm in Saturn’s rings click here.
“Nothing happens until something moves.”Albert Einstein
First came time! This is the second installment in my blog series “The Musical Universe.” The first installment covered pitches emanating from black holes. This second installment will discuss the rhythm of our own Sun. Astronomical scientists have gained some amazing data from the space probe Ulysses. They have been able to prove that sounds coming from deep inside the Sun cause the Earth to vibrate in sympathy. These vibrations affect many terrestrial systems, in addition to influencing the biological clocks of many plant species. Here is a quote from the website of the European Space Agency:
“Scientists from the Ulysses mission have proven that sounds generated deep inside the Sun cause the Earth to shake and vibrate in sympathy. They have found that Earth’s magnetic field, atmosphere and terrestrial systems, all take part in this cosmic sing-along. David Thomson and Louis Lanzerotti, team members of the HISCALE experiment, on board Ulysses, together with colleagues Frank Vernon, Marc Lessard and Lindsay Smith, present evidence that proves that Earth moves to the rhythm of the Sun. They show that distinct, isolated tones, predicted to be generated by pressure and gravity waves in the Sun, are present in a wide variety of terrestrial systems. Using highly sophisticated statistical techniques, Thomson and colleagues have discovered these same, distinct tones emitted by the Sun, in seismic data here on Earth. They have also found that Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere, and even voltages induced on ocean cables, are all taking part in this cosmic sing-along.Although these tones are all around us, it would not be possible for us to hear them, even if we listened very closely. Their pitch is too low for the human ear, typically 100-5000 microHertz (1 microHertz corresponds to 1 vibration every 278 hours). This is more than 12 octaves below the lowest note audible to humans. For comparison, the note to which orchestras tune their instruments (A above Middle C on a piano) corresponds to 440 Hertz”.
Back in 2000, scientists made another interesting discovery related to solar rhythm. They found a solar heartbeat that was connected to a 16 month cycle deep inside the Sun. The scientists believe that this rhythm is related to and influences the 11 year Solar cycle. For more information on the heartbeat of the Sun click here.
Being a musician myself, I rather leave the particulars to the scientists. However, I do think the larger concept here is extremely interesting, especially for people who make music. The Sun is beating like a metronome and the Earth is reacting to it. The celestial dance continues as we fly through the Milky Way. Every time a string player draws a bow or a wind player blows through their instrument, it creates motion and in turn vibration. When musicians gather together and play in ensemble, it is a microcosm of the Universe. Just the word Universe, means one song (uni-verse). How wonderful to think that the music and concerts we play are a small representation of this galactic polyphony. No wonder for thousands of years, human beings have celebrated the Sun in all of its glory, beating drums and singing songs. Perhaps on some level, these rhythms even penetrate our own consciousness.
A few years ago a very interesting universal phenomenon was discovered and reported. A note was detected coming from the Perseus cluster of galaxies. A supermassive black hole is emanating a sound wave with an unbelievable amount of energy. This pitch has been sounding for at least 2.5 billion years and it turns out that it is a B Flat. I remember the day when I read about this. Being a double bassist and usually playing the lowest sounding instrument in the orchestra , I sprang up in my chair and was fascinated. I love reading about astronomy and have always looked for links between the construction of the universe and the architecture and execution of music. There are several paths one can go down with this comparison. For the sake of time and writing space, this example is a great one on which to elaborate.
Throughout history, music and astronomy have always gone hand in hand. Man has stood gazing at the heavens and has pondered the natural world as long as we were able to do so. In the days of Ancient Greece, Pythagoras and Plato philosophized often about the Music of the Spheres. This concept was that planets orbiting around the earth produced a wonderful sound. Every celestial body had a specific ratio of distance just like the musical scale. Thus what we are left with is the divine harmony of the heavens. Galileo was raised in a musical family. Countless paintings adorn the world’s most breathtaking cathedrals with the pictures of angles playing music. With the glorious sounds of trumpets and harps, the music was in the clouds. In 1619, Johannes Kepler published Harmonices Mundi. His findings in the work correlating planetary movements with harmonic motion.
Perhaps we are returning to looking at the stars and experiencing the musical structure of the universe. The B Flat is 52 octaves lower than the piano and is not audible to the human ear. With a frequency over a million, billion times deeper than what humans can hear, it is the deepest note ever detected from an object in the Universe. Pitch and rhythm are the basic building blocks of music. Along with this sonorous Black hole, I thought it was appropriate to add a video of a Pulsar. This one comes from the Crab Nebula. This represents the pulse of the cosmos.
One can only imagine what the scientists of the past would say if they could observe these phenomena today. The instincts of man have always been connected to the harmony of the heavens and how amazing is it that we can now observed it with our own eyes. In this incredible golden age of astronomy, it is now mankind’s turn to be the audience to this cosmic, celestial symphony. Albert Einstein was also a prolific, amateur violinist. I have added one of my favorite quotes of his below.
“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music. … I get most joy in life out of music.” Albert Einstein
For more information about this Black Hole, you can visit NASA’s website by clicking here.
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About John Grillo
John started playing Double Bass at the age of 11. He attended The Julliard School during high school and was a scholarship student at Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana where he studied with Lawrence Hurst. After graduating from IU, he attended the Manhattan School of Music completing his Masters Degree. (more)
