Do celestial bodies emit sounds? Apparently, they do.
Researchers from the University of Birmingham detected some "acoustic oscillations" or sounds emanating from a cluster of the oldest Milky Way stars about 13 billion years old. The researchers used a technique called asteroseismology to listen to the "stellar music" from the stars.
"These oscillations lead to miniscule changes or pulses in brightness, and are caused by sound trapped inside the stars," said the University of Birmingham in a press release. The sounds, although not as musical at it could be, were considered ominous. And according to the researchers, listening to the sound of the oldest stars is like immersing oneself in the galaxy's early history.
The research published in the journal of the Royal Astronomical Society detected resonant acoustic oscillations of the 'M4' stars, the oldest known cluster in the galaxy. Researchers analyzed the data obtained by the Kepler telescope and NASA's K2 Mission.
The oscillation happens when pulses in brightness were trapped inside the stars. This process can possibly determine the age of stars and identify the older ones, just like how ancient artifacts are helping archaeologists study the past on Earth.
"The stars we have studied really are living fossils from the time of the formation of our Galaxy, and we now hope be able to unlock the secrets of how spiral galaxies, like our own, formed and evolved," said Dr. Andrea Miglio, lead author of the study in a statement published by ScienceDaily.
Experts say that the sound of old stars and the process used to determine them are useful in studying the history of the galaxy. Before this research, most of the studies are focused on young stars, but thanks to the new technology, researchers were allowed to listen to the sound of the stars. The technology allows stars as old as 13 billion years can be identified.
The sound of the oldest stars will serve as a guide for scientists to go back in time and study the galaxy.
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