NASA Turns Planetary Parade Into Sound You Can Hear

Six planets are lining up in late February skies, and NASA just found a way for everyone to experience three of them through sound.

The space agency released new sonifications from the Chandra X-ray Observatory that transform telescope data from Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus into music. These aren't random sounds, they're actual scientific data converted from ones and zeroes into audio that reveals what our eyes can't see.

The planetary parade happens when planets orbiting the Sun end up on the same side at the same time. From Earth, they appear to form a line across the night sky. People in the Northern Hemisphere with clear, dark skies can spot all six planets this month.

Why This Inspires

While Chandra typically studies black holes and extreme cosmic events, it also captures X-rays reflected off planets in our solar system. This gives scientists a unique window into planetary physics that optical telescopes miss entirely.

Jupiter's sonification combines Chandra's X-ray data with Hubble infrared images. Woodwind sounds represent X-rays from the planet's auroras at its poles, while fuller instruments join in to show the complex cloud layers. The pitch even drops as the scan passes over Jupiter's famous Great Red Spot.

Saturn's audio features a siren-like sound following the arc of its rings, created from Cassini optical images and Chandra X-rays. Different synthesizer tones play as the scan moves across the planet itself.

Uranus gets its moment too. The ice giant's sonification reflects light detected by Chandra and the Keck Observatory, capturing both the planet and its ring system in sound.

The process preserves the integrity of scientific data while making it accessible through hearing instead of sight. NASA designed these sonifications as part of its commitment to share space discoveries as widely as possible, opening cosmic exploration to people who experience the universe differently.

Making space accessible matters.