When it comes to making new discoveries, some scientists are all ears. Whether from a star’s sighs or a forest’s murmurings, the sound waves these researchers study tell them things their eyes could never see, providing information about the past and even the future of their varied research.
Music of the Stars
(0.00005–0.0009 hertz)
Gases dancing deep within stars create ultralow-frequency sound waves, appearing as rhythmic changes in brightness and temperature. Observing 34 young stars, an international team of astronomers learned the waves can reveal the stars’ relative ages and other traits — and so provide a valuable tool to explore the evolution of the universe.
