They say in space, nobody can hear you scream.
Which is probably why we haven’t heard much in the way of heavy metal coming from out that way (except GWAR, obvies).
And now it seems like we finally have an answer as to why: it would appear as if all the cool kids in the cosmos are listening to more ambient shit.
How do we know? Because astronomers have just used their sciencey knowhow to measure the acoustic oscillations of some of the oldest known stars in the Milky Way.
Basically, using data from NASA’s Kepler K2 mission, the eggheads at University of Birmingham’s School of Physics and Astronomy managed to capture the interstellar sounds from the so-called M4 star cluster, which is believed to be about 13-billion years old (so approx. Keith Richards’ age).
And their results are pretty damn incredible.
What they found is a surprisingly musical and ghostly cacophony, one that wouldn’t be out of place in a sci-fi flick but could also transition pretty easily into an ambient house track.
We hear it’s set for high rotation on triple j so make sure you remember to flick those 13-billion year old extraterrestrial producers a vote in this year’s Hottest 100.
Jokes, jokes. But seriously somebody should call Skrillex because this baby is crying out to be sampled and mixed into a spacey new dub banger.
But, of course, as well as making for cool listening, the celestial sounds are also scientifically useful.
As Gizmodo reports, by measuring the tones from each star, the research team was able to tell how old each one was, as well as its mass.
“The age scale of stars has so far been restricted to relatively young stars, limiting our ability to probe the early history of our Galaxy,” explained study co-author Dr Guy Davies.
While study leader Dr Andrea Miglio added: “We were thrilled to be able to listen to some of the stellar relics of the early universe. The stars we have studied really are living fossils from the time of the formation of our Galaxy, and we now hope be able to unlock the secrets of how spiral galaxies, like our own, formed and evolved.”
In conclusion, Aphex Twin would kill it in outer space.
https://soundcloud.com/ria-m-544920992/sets/space-sounds-milky-way
