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James Webb Space Telescope Sonifications
Explore some of the first full-color infrared images and data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope – by listening. Enter the complex soundscape of the Cosmic Cliffs in the Carina Nebula, explore the contrasting tones of two images that depict the Southern Ring Nebula, and identify the individual data points in a transmission spectrum of hot gas giant exoplanet WASP-96 b.
These audio tracks support blind and low-vision listeners first, but are designed to be captivating to anyone who tunes in. These tracks are not actual sounds recorded in space. Instead, musicians mapped Webb’s data to sound, carefully composing music to accurately represent details the team would like listeners to focus on. In a way, these sonifications are like modern dance or abstract painting – they convert Webb’s images and data to a new medium to engage and inspire listeners.
- Release DateAugust 31, 2022
- Science ReleaseNASA Webb’s First Full Color Images, Data Are Set to Sound
- CreditIllustration: NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)
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Cosmic Cliffs in the Carina Nebula Sonifications (NIRCam Image)
New sonifications map a near-infrared image of the Cosmic Cliffs in the Carina Nebula, captured by NASA’s Webb Telescope, to a symphony of sounds. Musicians assigned unique notes to the semi-transparent, gauzy regions and very dense areas of gas and dust in the nebula,...
Southern Ring Nebula Sonifications (NIRCam and MIRI Images Side by Side)
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Exoplanet WASP-96 b Sonification (NIRISS Transmission Spectrum)
NASA’s Webb Telescope observed the atmospheric characteristics of the hot gas giant exoplanet WASP-96 b – which contains clear signatures of water – and the resulting transmission spectrum’s individual data points were translated into sound. The sonification scans the spectrum...
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Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov
NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)
