Scientists have turned solar flares into sound. Video

After three years of work, scientists have managed to convert solar flares into sound. The sound is based on data from the European Space Agency's (ESA) Solar Orbiter mission.

ESA has published an audiovisual representation of solar activity over the past three years, having received data from its probe, which it operates together with NASA. The video shows blue circles popping up on the surface of the Sun and the sound signals associated with each of these circles, which are currently increasing in intensity, Space.com writes.

To create the unique video, ESA combined images from two Solar Orbiter instruments - the Spectrometer/Telescope for X-ray Imaging (STIX) and the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI), experts say.

According to the scientists, STIX captured the location and size of X-ray radiation caused by solar flares, which is represented by blue circles. EUI images, on the other hand, show the Sun's outer atmosphere in yellow.

The researchers emphasize that the increase in the frequency and size of solar flares correlates with the Sun's progression to the maximum, that is, the peak of activity in its 11-year cycle.

According to NASA and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, we are currently in a solar maximum. Therefore, this year will be the best time to observe the northern lights, experts suggest.

As for the zooming in and out in the video, this is due to the elliptical orbit of the Solar Orbiter, experts explain. The spacecraft approaches the Sun every six months. This can not only be seen in the video, but also heard through the background buzzing.

According to scientists, this noise reflects the proximity of the spacecraft and the Sun, that is, the sounds become louder when they are closer to each other and quieter when they are farther away.

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