Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2020 January 21

                      Parker: Sounds of the Solar Wind
     Video Credit: NASA, JHUAPL, Naval Research Lab, Parker Solar Probe;
                           Processing: Avi Solomon

   Explanation: What does the solar wind sound like? A wind of fast moving
   particles blows out from our Sun, and although space transmits sound
   poorly, particle impact and variable-field data from NASA's near-Sun
   Parker Solar Probe is being translated into sound. The disarming audio
   track of the featured video recounts several of these reverberations,
   including spooky-sounding Langmuir Waves (heard first),
   hurricane-sounding Whistler Mode Waves (heard next), and
   hard-to-describe Dispersive Chirping Waves (heard last). Also
   impressive is the video's time-lapse visual track which shows Parker's
   view to the side of its sun shield, and where the planets Earth,
   Jupiter, Mercury and Venus appear in succession, interspersed with
   bursts of powerful cosmic rays impacting the imager. The nature of the
   solar wind near Mercury is surprisingly different from near the Earth,
   and much study is underway to better understand the differences.

   Discovery + Outreach: Graduate student research position open for APOD
                  Tomorrow's picture: nearest star cluster
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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