NASA’s eerie black hole sounds are just the thing to give people the chills
‘In space, no-one can hear you scream.’, claimed the Alien tagline. But Ridley Scott hadn’t heard NASA’s recording of the black hole that sits in the Perseus galaxy cluster.
YouTube users were suitably chilled by the sounds from more than 200 million light years away.
A black hole is probably one of the scariest things in the universe. The sound makes it even more frightening.
Richie Tavarez
That’s kind of actually sounds like all possible noises in space being pulled towards the black hole.
KuzarHorche
NASA shared the eerie sound clip on Twitter.
The misconception that there is no sound in space originates because most space is a ~vacuum, providing no way for sound waves to travel. A galaxy cluster has so much gas that we've picked up actual sound. Here it's amplified, and mixed with other data, to hear a black hole! pic.twitter.com/RobcZs7F9e
— NASA Exoplanets (@NASAExoplanets) August 21, 2022
As you can gather from that, it’s not a pure reproduction of the black hole’s sound, but it was enough to give people a sense of the real thing – and they didn’t like it..
1.
nasa employee: oh hey u guys are back early
astronaut: space's haunted
nasa employee: what?
astronaut: *loading a pistol and getting back on the rocket-ship* space's haunted https://t.co/CnpaVZqs3Y
— Tauriq Moosa (@tauriqmoosa) August 21, 2022
2.
It turns out, a black hole sounds like someone listened to whale calls, and was like "This, but evil" https://t.co/tnEmOqITZO
— Doc Wolverine, Medically Doctorated Dipshit (@Doc_Wolverine) August 22, 2022
3.
I would not recommend this being the last thing you listen to before bed. https://t.co/b1LOLoUztZ
— Musa Okwonga (@Okwonga) August 21, 2022
4.
That’s creepier than the previous notion . As an astronaut , I’d rather hear nothing over whatever that sound is .
— TeddyRubsxkin (@TeddyRubsxkin) August 21, 2022
5.
My son commented that this is literally what it sounds like when a galaxy farts.
— Kris Says Fuck That (@KEshleman) August 23, 2022
One scientifically minded tweeter gave the recording a further boost.
By amplifying, correcting and mixing with other data, the black hole sounds quite different. Here it is with alternative processing: https://t.co/NNC9l7B6TC
— plainview (@plainviewpar) August 22, 2022
Never gonna give you up, never gonna hear you scream.
READ MORE
Source NASA Image Screengrab