MIT Researchers Discover Method to Simulate Sounds of Light Reflected Around a Black Hole
As black holes consume surrounding matter, they sometimes emit X-ray bursts. These bursts resonate sounds off nearby objects, and their echoes travel far across the universe.
The echoes from black holes are extremely useful for astronomers.
Recently, a team of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) successfully developed an automated search tool that can help them capture the echoes emitted by black holes.
Their project, named “Echo Generator”, is based on data from a neutron star component exploration device and an X-ray telescope mounted on the International Space Station.
With the “Echo Generator,” scientists identified previously undetected echoes from black hole binary systems in the galaxy.
Out of a total of 26 black hole binaries identified by the device, ten are close enough to Earth to capture the black hole echoes.
These echoes are extremely useful for astronomers. They can help researchers more accurately determine the position of the black hole’s edge. They also shed light on how black holes operate and what types of matter they expel during these X-ray bursts.
Shortly after successfully capturing the black hole echoes, one of the study’s authors converted these echoes into audible sounds.
Upon listening to the sounds, the research team found that they resembled the sound of wind but had a longer and deeper tone, a kind of haunting sound filled with mystery.
