Black Hole Sound Waves

fuckyeahtheuniverse:

Sound waves 57 octaves lower than middle-C are rumbling away from a supermassive black hole in the Perseus cluster.

Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have found, for the first time, sound waves from a supermassive black hole. The “note” is the deepest ever detected from any object in our Universe. The tremendous amounts of energy carried by these sound waves may solve a longstanding problem in astrophysics.

The black hole resides in the Perseus cluster of galaxies located 250 million light years from Earth. In 2002, astronomers obtained a deep Chandra observation that shows ripples in the gas filling the cluster. These ripples are evidence for sound waves that have traveled hundreds of thousands of light years away from the cluster’s central black hole.

Whoa.

So if Middle C produces a frequency at 256 Hz, finding the frequency that is 57 octaves below would mean dividing 256 by 2, then dividing its quotient (128) by 2, then dividing THAT quotient (64) by 2, and so forth until you’ve done it 57 times.

The frequency that these black holes are producing resonates at 1.7763567 x 10^(-15) Hz.  Humans can only hear between 20 Hz - 20 kHz.  This has to be the deepest note ever.

Science, you win again.

Source: fuckyeahtheuniverse

419 Notes/ Hide

  1. elvin827 reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse
  2. stoicfuturejet reblogged this from lordandleader
  3. scion-xb-custom reblogged this from lordandleader
  4. lordandleader reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse
  5. jra-reality reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse and added:
    And people laugh when I say music...universal.Wait.. just me? Okay..
  6. mynativecircle reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse
  7. riddlerose reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse
  8. pada-viya reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse
  9. f-1point8 reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse
  10. gebaermutternatur reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse
  11. uknowwheretostickthosjinglebells reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse
  12. themindofaninsomniac reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse
  13. polaroidreactions reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse
  14. jocelyng reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse
  15. unproductivemember reblogged this from wheatthingirl
  16. wheatthingirl reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse
  17. sophiathomas reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse
  18. sleepinthedirt reblogged this from theuniverseworks
  19. ihavexxxxinmyheart reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse
  20. bestnameevar reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse
  21. walkin-in reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse
  22. orangeslicesandnavels reblogged this from splintercat
  23. unknownwind reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse
  24. djempty reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse
  25. justyourshadowstouch reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse
  26. thedistanceensemble reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse
  27. jahead reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse
  28. umph reblogged this from sonicscrewhovian
  29. rosy-eyes reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse
  30. teaandcrumpets reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse
  31. tybarbary reblogged this from fuckyeahtheuniverse