Why can't we hear sound from the sun?

Sound is what humans call how thier brain interprets waves in a medium.

Since the particles between here and the sun are too few for our ears to pick up, the sun makes no sound.

It does send out energy in particles in the form of longitudnal waves... but you can't hear those particles...

I know two things:
Nuclear fireballs make sound, and the range spans the spectrum well enough sothat even my ears can hear it.

I cannot hear the sun.

Apparently the vacuum is great enough so that the sound cannot tavel the distance it takes light what, eight minutes to travel.

Or, maybe the flourescent lights drown it out?

I'd imagine if we could hear the sun through space at that distance, everyone around the world would have heard the detonation of every nuclear weapon tested as well as the two that were used.

[edit on 4-12-2004 by Thomas Crowne]

No, you can't hear in the vacuum of space. True, if you put a razor blade under a microscope it might come up rounded, but I will still arguee it is a vedy vedy sharp edge. Sure right angles exist, if they did not exist then no angle would exist. When you look at the composition of atoms in three different states of matter you will notice that the atoms are more compact in solids than liquids and more so in liquids than gases, and if you look at the vacuum of space there are no atoms. If you have a link to prove to me that there is some how a large mass composition of atoms floating around somewhere in space, I'd love to see it.

Originally posted by Frosty
if you look at the vacuum of space there are no atoms. If you have a link to prove to me that there is some how a large mass composition of atoms floating around somewhere in space, I'd love to see it.

"It is often a misconception that space is a vacuum or simply empty. Space is a nearly perfect vacuum, even better than the best ones made in labs on earth, but it is not devoid of everything. The fact is that space is filled with tiny particles called cosmic dust and elements like hydrogen and helium. This applies for interstellar space also and all the previously mention particles make up what is known as the interstellar medium."

hypertextbook.com...



Cold Atoms in Space and Atomic Clocks

www.hep.ucl.ac.uk...


Atoms of Space and Time
We perceive space and time to be continuous, but if the amazing theory of loop quantum gravity is correct, they actually come in discrete pieces
(There is a huge picture attached to the first page of the pdf document,scroll down)
www.phys.lsu.edu...

Observation of modified radiative properties of cold atoms in vacuum near a
dielectric surface


ej.iop.org...

Theres more if you would like to have the links

I believe the heliophone featured in the "Engineers Mini Notebooks" by Forrest M Mims could be used to record sun sounds with minor modifications. Copyrights do not allow me to post the circuit, but you can guess by the name that it converts the suns light frequencies into sound. The unmodified circuit is used to transmit voice over sunbeams. Yean I know it is LIGHT being converted to sound, but it is cheap and you can experiment. Just buy all the Mini Notebook series they are good reading with lots of fun and cheap projects to experiment with.

Originally posted by ben91069
Another thought about space having some pressure and matter is almost another paradox. If space could not transmit sound because it has zero pressure, then why do pressurized spacecraft not explode in this atmosphere? The spacecraft hull has a physical limit on how much stress it can withstand. If space had zero pressure then it could not be measured how much stress the pressure differential between a pressurized cabin and the outside could withstand. If space has an absolute 0 pressure, these figures could not be calculated.

Calculus is more than just a college requirement and contrary to the beliefs of the vast majority of the people who take it, it does have a practical application.

[edit on 4-12-2004 by Raphael_UO]

Originally posted by ben91069
I was thinking about the EM wavelengths that exist, and considering the sun puts out light, UV, gamma, etc., I know that a nuclear fireball has to put out sound also. Why can't we record or hear this sound? I would like to hear the sounds of the explosive force of the sun. Why is it that none is to be found, or why can't we hear the suns constant explosion?

Those other forms of energy you listed (EM, UV, etc.) are electromagnetic radiation and exist in the wave-particle duality. (Is it a wave or is it a particle? Hmmmm.....) As a particle, radiation can fly through empty space and requires no medium to support it.

Sound, however, is merely a wave-- a vibration. As such it requires a medium (air, water, wood, metal-- matter of some sort) to get from source to listener.

But now that you've mentioned it, I'm glad there's all the empty space between us and the Sun. It must be deafening!

The Michelson Doppler Imager aboard Nasa's SOHO, seems like it takes light and sends the information to earth so we can convert it to sound (image/light). That site does not say how it gets the sounds and it just says listen because they don't want to confuse the kids that visit that site.

same way you can 'listen' to black holes. those bad boys aint making noise, and we aint pickin it up, but you can interpret the light emanating from it to a really, really, really low Bb.

Actually that space sounds site was kinda neat. The suns heartbeat sounded quite eerie.

Originally posted by ben91069
Actually that space sounds site was kinda neat. The suns heartbeat sounded quite eerie.

Well at least someone likes it, I guess some people though I was implying that you could hear the sound through space.... Perhaps I should have been more specific ...but a sound is a sound is a sound..no matter where or what it comes from

Listen to some star on this thread then... It is not a sound as such, but I think it can bring some answers to you. Btw, even the "near perfect" vacuum that space is can indeed carry some waves, but sound is a too "dense" wave to be carried over empty space. Astronauts on the moon could not hear themselves falling on the ground!

Well... soundwaves are little like earthquake waves.

You can't directly listen to sun's sound, but if you measure vibration of surface you can keep that as sound.
Bigger flares and those cause even "sun quakes".

This is an image taken from a movie of the July 9, 1996 solar quake The images were made using the Michelson Doppler Imager onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft.
A solar flare is an explosion in the atmosphere of the Sun, caused by the tearing and reconnection of strong magnetic fields. Although moderate in size, this flare released an enormous amount of energy. The energy released is equal to completely covering the Earth's continents with a yard of dynamite and detonating it all at once. Some of this energy was transferred to the solar surface by high speed electrons traveling within magnetic flux tubes, invisible tubes of magnetic energy. They produced X-rays, microwaves and shock waves that heated the solar surface. These shock waves are the solar quake, and can be seen as concentric rings spreading outward from beneath the flare, much like ripples spreading from a rock dropped into a pool of water. The flare-generated solar quake contained about 40,000 times the energy released in the great earthquake that devastated San Francisco in 1906. The amount of energy released was enough to power the United States for 20 years at its current level of consumption.

www.solarviews.com...

whyfiles.org...

Originally posted by Frosty
Sure right angles exist, if they did not exist then no angle would exist.

Well I disagree that an exact angle exists in the real world. Tell me how to make a perfect angle except with math. If it is off by a mere .00000001" over a distance of a million miles, then it isn't exaclty what you say it is. All I am saying is that we only have 'close' angles in reality.

Originally posted by ben91069

Originally posted by Frosty
Sure right angles exist, if they did not exist then no angle would exist.

Well I disagree that an exact angle exists in the real world. Tell me how to make a perfect angle except with math. If it is off by a mere .00000001" over a distance of a million miles, then it isn't exaclty what you say it is. All I am saying is that we only have 'close' angles in reality.

Oh, yeah, talk about minute differences between 89.99999999 and 90. IF you are able to measure it for its diffecieny, you should be able to recalibrate it shouldn't you?

About the sound, it does exist, the Universe makes noises, it is just that you would need a receptacle, or "ear", for this sound that is the size of a galaxy. The satellites in orbit aren't truly hearing any sound, they are probably just converting light into sound using a program. Kinda like the bible codes. Once you get enough information, it is easy to find a pattern and make sound out of it.

And they are right, space is not a perfect vacuum, for the reasons stated before, and there are no perfect angles, so forth. You should listen to ben over there, he obviously knows what he is talking about, and it is pretty obvious some of you here don't.

Oh, and by the way Frosty, I'm 14.

From now on remember age has nothing to do with anything, alright buddy?

I definitly agree with the space in sound being audiable, there is many particles that can function as a medium for sounds, ofcourse the sun is too far away for us to hear, but you could definitly hear and explosion go off near you in space, or a gunshot for that matter, probably highly muffled and deformed, but still...

Originally posted by GrOuNd_ZeRo
I definitly agree with the space in sound being audiable, there is many particles that can function as a medium for sounds, ofcourse the sun is too far away for us to hear, but you could definitly hear and explosion go off near you in space, or a gunshot for that matter, probably highly muffled and deformed, but still...

Based on what? Guesses? How about some real facts like astronauts on the moon not hearing themselves fall? Is that not sufficent enough for you?

Sound is formed by waves that travel by means of particles colliding with each other. Particles in space are TOO FAR APART to do anything.

I feel dumber after reading this. I can't believe that after three pages of this nonsense, someone still believes that sound can travel in a vacuum.

[edit on 12/6/2004 by shbaz]

Well, take in considderation that Astronauts wore those bulky space suits that probably make hearing things harder, and as I said, sound will be very muffled...

I have no proof for this so this is pure speculation...

There is maybe 1 atom per every meter of space. Even if it was an atom per foot, that atom would need to be pushed by what ever and hit other atoms and somehow reach your ears.

You need alot of atoms bunched up to give you a good sound "resolution" so if you did hear things in space it would be the sound of one or two atoms going "ping" off of the reciever. The atom has to enter your ear and hit your ear drum for you to hear it! Its like a game of pool with a 100yard pool table and invisible balls.