To answer this question, you first need to understand how sound travels on Earth. In very basic terms, sound travels from the source of the sound to our ears by vibrating air molecules. Sound waves need a medium to travel through. Space is a mostly empty vacuum, so there’s no medium for sounds to travel through. In summary, no, you can’t hear sound in space like we can on Earth.
However, scientists use a process called sonification to convert the different waves found in space into sounds.
Listen to the sounds of space
This data sonification of the black hole at the centre of the Perseus Cluster is amazing!
Last Updated on October 12, 2023 by Emma Vanstone
