The sound of space has been recorded for the first time [REUTERS]
But now you can hear what space itself sounds like – and it’s like the Dawn Chorus of birds singing in spring interspersed with deep bass pulses from the sun.
Andrew Williams used data collected by satellites and spacecraft to generate the incredible sound you would hear if you tuned a radio in to outer space.
The most compelling recording is the "Dawn Chorus" of electrons hitting our upper atmosphere.
They sound like starlings tweeting above a bubbling brook, interrupted by the sun's pulses.
The sound was recorded by the Cluster II satellite using a Long Wave Radio receiver
The sound was recorded by the Cluster II satellite on the 9th of July 2001 using a Long Wave Radio receiver.
The unique recordings are now on display at Leicester University and is Mr Williams is now planning to take his exhibition, Trajectory, on tour.
He says the signals were outside the range of human hearing so he had to lower the pitch and filter them to make them audible.
Many of the sounds were recorded from the Cluster II satellite [ESA]
Another recording of the sun is of its rhythmic pulses though here Mr Williams, the Leverhulme Artist in Residence at the University of Leicester’s Space Research Centre, had to overcome several technical difficulties.
The sounds picked up by the Soho spacecraft are so deep that Andrew had to magnify their pitch by 40,000 times.
And because the sound occurs once every five minutes he accelerated the recording 42,000 times to provide 40 days of pulses in a few seconds.
The sound was recorded using a Long Wave receiver and magnified 40,000 times [NASA]
Andrew, 49, from Matlock in Derbyshire, said: "Much of the data comes from Satellites (in particular Cluster II) and it seemed natural to find the exact location of this when the data was collected.
"I then realised that the trajectories of satellites created a transfixing and beautiful visual landscape. It also shows how much—or little—of space we currently colonise.
"The installation itself looks at several aspects of space in detail, whilst also providing an opportunity to reflect upon the future in terms of future space research, the effects of space research upon our lives and the big question - the future of humanity.
“The sound is what inspired me - once I had started to create audio from space data I wanted to find a way of presenting it.
He added: added: “If Humanity is to have a future it will not be on Earth.
“We know so little at the moment and some of the answers we get just lead to bigger questions. I think we all find the unknown appealing.”
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