Space is not truly silent — it has plasma waves that NASA has converted to sound
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While sound waves cannot travel through the vacuum of space (there is no medium for the vibration), space contains plasma — ionised gas — which carries electromagnetic waves at frequencies proportional to pressure variations. NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory detected pressure waves in the gas of the Perseus galaxy cluster and scaled their frequency up by 57 octaves. The result is a haunting, droning hum. Space does 'sound' — just not in a register humans can hear unaided.
Space is filled with electromagnetic oscillations that, when translated, create eerie sound — the universe has been making music we could not hear until we built the instruments to detect it.
The Science Behind It
While sound waves cannot travel through the vacuum of space (there is no medium for the vibration), space contains plasma — ionised gas — which carries electromagnetic waves at frequencies proportional to pressure variations. NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory detected pressure waves in the gas of the Perseus galaxy cluster and scaled their frequency up by 57 octaves. The result is a haunting, droning hum. Space does 'sound' — just not in a register humans can hear unaided.
Why Your Brain Finds This Hard to Believe
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Read our Editorial Guidelines →“Space isn't truly silent. NASA converted plasma waves from black holes into sound — and it's deeply unsettling.”