ZwCl 0024+1652 Sonification

ZwCl 0024+1652, an immense and distant cluster of galaxies bound together by gravity. X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory reveals an enormous, glowing reservoir of superheated gas that pervades the entire cluster—a cloud containing far more mass than all of its galaxies combined. Also shown is optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope, which captures the individual galaxies drifting within the cluster. By analyzing how the cluster's immense gravity warps the light of objects far behind it, astronomers used specially processed Hubble data to map a massive, invisible ring of dark matter.

The sonification begins as a circle on the outside of the image and moves inward. The volume is linked to the brightness of the data, reaching one peak as the circle passes over the dark matter detected by inference from Hubble optical observations and another as it reaches the core. The background stars are heard as a swelling glockenspiel-like sound, and the galaxies are played on a piano. Chandra’s X-rays, which dominate the center of the galaxy cluster and reveal superheated gas, are represented by airy synthesizer notes.

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The Chandra sonifications were led by the Chandra X-ray Center (CXC), with input from NASA's Universe of Learning. The sustained collaboration was driven by visualization scientist Dr. Kimberly Arcand (CXC), astrophysicist Dr. Matt Russo and musician Andrew Santaguida (both of the SYSTEM Sounds project). For other sonifications, please see their linked pages.