The Saturn System as seen from moon Iapetus (via NASA)
Put down your iPods for minute and listen to this incredible recording of audio emissions from Saturn.
Captured by the Cassini spacecraft as part of the Cassini-Huygens mission, a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency, the noises have been altered so that we humans can hear them, but the general patterns remain intact.
Spooky, ethereal sound waves drift across the speakers like a flock of homeless ghosts in search of a mansion. It's a confirmation of all those sci-fi sound effects we grew up with, a mere theremin sweep away from a Doctor Who rerun. Weird.
Also: Read an early Tomorrowland post about the Cassini-Huygens mission.
via Disquiet


since sound cant pass through space...
i kinda doubt this
Posted by: Someone with half a mind | January 25, 2008 at 06:43 PM
Of course it isn't audio. It's EM radiation converted to audio.
Posted by: GasMan | January 25, 2008 at 07:06 PM
@Someone with half a mind: Read the post.
"the noises have been altered so that we humans can hear them"
Electromagnetic radiation CAN travel through a vacuum. They have simply been converted into sound for our convenience.
Either that, or the satellite was close enough to Saturn's Atmosphere to be collecting sound. But that seems unlikely, and the quote above makes this more improbable.
Posted by: Kireas | January 25, 2008 at 08:16 PM
What a turkey, sound cannot pass through space, how then do we get sound from a satellites circling our planet???
Posted by: Marko | January 25, 2008 at 08:53 PM
you turkey, no satellites broadcast pure sound, they are always in a form of something else. Like television or radio signals.
Posted by: Sololop | January 25, 2008 at 11:21 PM
such silly creations. Those messages are from me, and it is EM radiation. Hilariously enough though, I know that there is only one of you on that sphere that can decipher what it means.
Have fun with the puzzle. =)
Posted by: Yhwh | January 26, 2008 at 10:30 AM
I like it.
Does anybody of you know the license of this sample?
I haven't found anything on the NASA page.
Posted by: hollunder | January 28, 2008 at 05:32 PM
Really this is a sound from Saturn, i don't thinks so...
Posted by: Astronomy Club | December 29, 2008 at 08:18 AM
I think I've heard this before; it might be the sound they play at Space Mountain in Tomorrow Land in Disney Land.
Posted by: Andrew | February 05, 2009 at 06:37 PM
don't give a shit. Sounds pretty.
Posted by: wibbled | February 07, 2009 at 07:34 PM
don't give a shit. Sounds pretty.
Posted by: wibbled | February 07, 2009 at 07:35 PM
don't give a shit. Sounds pretty.
Posted by: wibbled | February 07, 2009 at 07:35 PM
It is simply amazing and inspiring to hear the recordings cassini captured and sent home for us to translate into sound.
Posted by: Priss | March 29, 2009 at 05:04 AM