Cassini reveals Saturn’s eerie-sounding radio emissions
Saturn’s radio emissions could be mistaken for a Halloween sound track.
That is how University of Iowa researchers Bill Kurth and Don Gurnett describe their recent findings, published 23 July in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. Their research investigated sounds that are not just eerie, but also descriptive of a phenomenon similar to Earth’s northern lights. The study was based on data from the Cassini spacecraft’s radio and plasma wave science instrument, which was built at the University of Iowa under Gurnett’s direction.
“All of the structures we observe in Saturn’s radio spectrum are giving us clues about what might be going on in the source of the radio emissions above Saturn’s auroras,” says Kurth. “We believe that the changing frequencies are related to tiny radio sources moving up and down along Saturn’s magnetic field lines.”
The radio emissions, called Saturn kilometric radiation, are generated along with Saturn’s auroras, or northern and southern lights. The Cassini instrument has provided new information on the spectrum and the variability of the radio emissions, thanks to the higher resolution of the instrument, as compared to that on the earlier Voyager spacecraft. These high-resolution measurements allow scientists to convert the radio waves into audio recordings by shifting the frequencies down into the audio frequency range.
The terrestrial cousins of Saturn’s radio emissions were first reported in 1979 by Gurnett, who used an instrument onboard the International Sun-Earth Explorer spacecraft in Earth orbit. Kurth says that despite their best efforts, scientists still have not agreed on a theory to fully explain the phenomenon. He adds that they will get another chance to solve the radio emission puzzle beginning in mid-2008, when Cassini will fly close to, or possibly even through, the source region at Saturn.
Commenting on the new observations, Gurnett says, “It is amazing that the radio emissions from Earth and Saturn sound so similar.”
Media Contact
All latest news from the category: Physics and Astronomy
This area deals with the fundamental laws and building blocks of nature and how they interact, the properties and the behavior of matter, and research into space and time and their structures.
innovations-report provides in-depth reports and articles on subjects such as astrophysics, laser technologies, nuclear, quantum, particle and solid-state physics, nanotechnologies, planetary research and findings (Mars, Venus) and developments related to the Hubble Telescope.
Newest articles
How marine worms regenerate lost body parts
The return of cells to a stem cell-like state as the key to regeneration. Many living organisms are able to regenerate damaged or lost tissue, but why some are particularly…
Nano-scale molecular detective
New on-chip device uses exotic light rays in 2D material to detect molecules. Researchers have developed a highly sensitive detector for identifying molecules via their infrared vibrational “fingerprint”. Published in Nature…
Novel CAR T-cell therapy
… demonstrates efficacy and safety in preclinical models of HER2-positive solid tumors. The p95HER2 protein is found expressed in one third of HER2+ tumors, which represent 4% of all tumors….