Music from the Stars

The COROT mission

Credit: CNES / David Ducros, 2006

An artist's representation of the COROT satellite.

Astronomers have already been able to identify different classes of pulsating stars by studying their modes of vibration. The COROT (Convection, Rotation and Planetary Transits) mission, led by the French space agency (CNES) and six international partners, will attempt to extend our knowledge of the interior of stars by measuring variations in brightness caused by “starquakes”. Its satellite contains a 27 cm long telescope and a four-charged-couple-device (CCD) camera, which will be capturing images from January 3rd for a period of five months.

For years, similar research has been conducted on the Sun, revealing how it rotates, its helium abundance and other important information about its structure. The data obtained from the COROT mission will be compared to what we know about the Sun, and will continue to help astronomers develop more precise and complete theoretical models of stars and better understand how they form and evolve.

But the music produced by stars also makes for entertaining lectures: Kurtz has recently presented his “space tracks” at conferences. A star typically produces music covering a range of a couple of octaves and one star song has been likened to African drumming.

Visit this site to listen to some music from the stars:

To find out more about the COROT mission: