A Universe of Sound
NASA

Cassiopeia A Sonification

This sonified piece is of the remains of a supernova called Cassiopeia A, or Cas A. In Cas A, the sounds are mapped to four elements found in the debris from the exploded star as well as other high-energy data. The distribution of silicon, sulfur, calcium, and iron are revealed moving outward from the center of the remnant, starting from the location of the neutron star, in four different directions, with intensity again controlling the volume. There is also a fifth audio path moving along the upper left jet.

Cassiopeia A Composite Cassiopeia A Sulfur Cassiopeia A Silicon Cassiopeia A Calcium Cassiopeia A Iron Cassiopeia A Blastwave Cassiopeia A Jet

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The Chandra sonifications were led by the Chandra X-ray Center (CXC), with input from NASA's Universe of Learning. The sustained collaboration was driven by visualization scientist Dr. Kimberly Arcand (CXC), astrophysicist Dr. Matt Russo and musician Andrew Santaguida (both of the SYSTEM Sounds project). For other sonifications, please see their linked pages.


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Additional support from NASA's Universe of Learning (UoL). UoL materials are based upon work supported by NASA under award number NNX16AC65A to the Space
Telescope Science Institute, working in partnership with Caltech/IPAC, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.