Experience the Eagle Nebula with sound
The Astronomy Picture of the Day published a sonified view of the Eagle Nebula, also known as M16. While the nebula is widely recognized for its visual display of bright young stars forming within dark towering structures, a featured video allows listeners to hear the stars and dust as a sonification line moves across the frame.
In the data sonification, vertical positions determine pitch. The presentation utilizes a combined image from the Hubble Space Telescope, showing visible light, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Structure and environment of M16
The towering columns of cold gas and dust measure light-years in length and sit approximately 6,500 light-years away toward the constellation Serpens. The structures are shaped and eroded by energetic ultraviolet light and powerful winds originating from massive stars within M16’s cluster, leaving the cosmic pillars destined for ultimate destruction.
According to the published explanation, the turbulent star-formation environment within the Eagle Nebula is likely comparable to the conditions that formed Earth’s Sun.
