Sound of Earth’s Magnetic Field: Here’s What You Hear

It starts slow, then things swell. A thundering and awe-inspiring sound ensues. Then cracklings, high tones, something like the creaking of a ship. You can unleash all sorts of wild fantasies here, listen for yourself:

But what do we really mean? This requires a little lesson in astrophysics, which Vincent Icke from Leiden University is happy to give us.

Starting with the explanation of the Earth’s magnetic field. In short: “The field protects us from the wind of the sun and particles coming from the universe.”

The long version: “All kinds of things blow through space. And it’s not nice for the earth when it falls. The magnetic field is a kind of shield that protects us. It’s created by currents at the interior of the earth. Also stars and other planets have such a magnetic field.”

Then back to the segment. It’s hard to say exactly where each sound is coming from, but the astronomer can explain some things.

Cascade

Icke compares the start to the sound of a waterfall. “It’s like standing at the foot of it. A kind of roar. It’s true,” he explains, “because the vibrations of the magnetic field are very low frequency, 50 to 60 vibrations per second. This creates the bass.”

According to the astronomy professor, most of the rumble is caused by wind from the sun blowing past the earth’s magnetic field. “It floats, and you can hear it.”

‘chiou, yay’

But if you’re careful, you’ll hear another sound: “Tjiew, tjiew!” Icke mimics. “Magnetic fields can be compared to taut wires or taut strings. When something hits them, like a cloud of hot gas emitted by the sun, the field begins to float or wobble. It happens so fast that you hear hissing, kind of vibration bouncing between our poles.”

Now listen again, can you hear it?

Clearly the sound is hugely intriguing, but what good is that to science? Icke says quite honestly: actually not that much. It’s mainly for us: the public who can’t stop listening to these kinds of fragments.

tax money

“The vast majority of science is done with taxpayers’ money. We appreciate that, and it’s our way of giving back. We hope people hear about it and can imagine how interesting our profession is.”

But, it’s not completely absurd. This fragment gives scientists a better idea of ​​the different parts that can be distinguished in a magnetic field and their origin.

ESA launched special satellites in 2013 to do more research on the magnetic field. Because: once in a while, and we are talking about thousands of years, the earth’s magnetic field temporarily disappears.

And then suddenly, like that, the shield that protects our earth against “evil” disappeared from the universe. “When it happens, you want to be prepared for it,” Icke says. “The more you know about the magnetic field, the better.”

Still a bit exciting and mysterious.