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Listen to these 9 stunning sounds from outer space

March 25, 2021

A minimal science fiction edit of a hooded silhouette of a figure of a man standing below a light be...

David Wall/Moment/Getty Images

The light curve of the fluxuating star R Coronae Borealis

AAVSO / Lithopsian via Wikimedia Commons

Despite what Star Wars would have you believe, there’s no sound in space — but that doesn’t mean it’s quiet. Light waves have a peculiar hum that can be teased out by converting the data into sound.

AAVSO / Lithopsian via Wikimedia Commons

9: Black Widow Pulsar

Pulsars are the remnants of stars that exploded in supernovae. The Black Widow Pulsar got its name because it appears to be eating another celestial body — thought to be a massive planet or brown dwarf.

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/ASTRON/B.Stappers et al.; Optical: AAO/J.Bland-Hawthorn & H.Jones

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