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A Cosmic Red, White, & Blue
(Credit: NASA/CXC/A. Hobart)
[Runtime: 0:33]
With closed-captions (at YouTube)
(Credit: NASA/CXC/A. Hobart)
[Runtime: 0:33]
With closed-captions (at YouTube)
We’re looking at the cosmos through a red, white, and blue lens. Who needs backyard fireworks when you have supernova remnants and supermassive black holes putting on a show? 🎉🎆
Four new NASA images from the Chandra X-ray Observatory along with the Hubble and Webb Space Telescopes are rendered in red, white, and blue, where colors represent different kinds of light. The Cassiopeia A supernova remnant reveals the shredded remains of a massive star, with blue filaments marking the expanding shock wave that still screams through space over 300 years after a star exploded. The star cluster NGC 3603 presents a celestial firework display with young, massive stars emitting fierce X-rays that sculpt the surrounding gas clouds. Spiral galaxy M94 glows with a ring of intense star formation, where new suns are born in a flurry of high-energy radiation. Galaxy cluster ZwCl 0024+1652 showcases a ghostly dark matter ring, a cosmic fingerprint of the invisible substance that holds our universe together. Together, these images serve as a vivid gallery of American-led discovery, bridging the gap between the stars and the nation that reached for them.
Happy 4th!
Four new NASA images from the Chandra X-ray Observatory along with the Hubble and Webb Space Telescopes are rendered in red, white, and blue, where colors represent different kinds of light. The Cassiopeia A supernova remnant reveals the shredded remains of a massive star, with blue filaments marking the expanding shock wave that still screams through space over 300 years after a star exploded. The star cluster NGC 3603 presents a celestial firework display with young, massive stars emitting fierce X-rays that sculpt the surrounding gas clouds. Spiral galaxy M94 glows with a ring of intense star formation, where new suns are born in a flurry of high-energy radiation. Galaxy cluster ZwCl 0024+1652 showcases a ghostly dark matter ring, a cosmic fingerprint of the invisible substance that holds our universe together. Together, these images serve as a vivid gallery of American-led discovery, bridging the gap between the stars and the nation that reached for them.
Happy 4th!
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NGC 3603, Composite Sonification
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
[Runtime: 00:33]
Audio Only Versions
NGC 3603 is a massive, crowded cluster of young stars in the Milky Way galaxy. This track operates as a burst of musical energy. The translation of NGC 3603’s into sound begins with a left to right scan where the brightnesses of the sources once again dictate volume. Chandra’s observations of compact sources sprinkled throughout the galaxy are heard as piano notes, while the diffuse X-ray emission is mapped to a range of audio frequencies. The Hubble optical data are played as sustained tones and acoustic guitar harmonics.
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
[Runtime: 00:33]
Audio Only Versions
NGC 3603 is a massive, crowded cluster of young stars in the Milky Way galaxy. This track operates as a burst of musical energy. The translation of NGC 3603’s into sound begins with a left to right scan where the brightnesses of the sources once again dictate volume. Chandra’s observations of compact sources sprinkled throughout the galaxy are heard as piano notes, while the diffuse X-ray emission is mapped to a range of audio frequencies. The Hubble optical data are played as sustained tones and acoustic guitar harmonics.
Download this video (MP4)
NGC 3603, X-ray Only Sonification
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
[Runtime: 00:33]
Audio Only Versions
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
[Runtime: 00:33]
Audio Only Versions
Download this video (MP4)
NGC 3603, Optical/IR/UV (Hubble) Only Sonification
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
[Runtime: 00:33]
Audio Only Versions
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
[Runtime: 00:33]
Audio Only Versions
Download this video (MP4)
NGC 4736, Composite Sonification
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
[Runtime: 00:34]
Audio Only Versions
Also known as Messier 94, NGC 4736 is a spiral galaxy with a bright inner ring around it where new stars are forming, perhaps fueled by gas driven in from its unique bar-like oval structure. NGC 4736 also has a remarkable outer ring of spiral arms. In the sonification, the radar-like scan moves clockwise, and the brightness of the sources dictates the volume of the sounds. X-rays from Chandra have been turned into wind-like sounds that follow the shape of the X-ray emission. Neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes (known as compact sources) detected by Chandra are mapped to pitched tones on a glass marimba. Optical data from ground-based observations are mapped to musically pitched tones, creating a low drone while stars and background galaxies are heard as a soft piano.
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
[Runtime: 00:34]
Audio Only Versions
Also known as Messier 94, NGC 4736 is a spiral galaxy with a bright inner ring around it where new stars are forming, perhaps fueled by gas driven in from its unique bar-like oval structure. NGC 4736 also has a remarkable outer ring of spiral arms. In the sonification, the radar-like scan moves clockwise, and the brightness of the sources dictates the volume of the sounds. X-rays from Chandra have been turned into wind-like sounds that follow the shape of the X-ray emission. Neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes (known as compact sources) detected by Chandra are mapped to pitched tones on a glass marimba. Optical data from ground-based observations are mapped to musically pitched tones, creating a low drone while stars and background galaxies are heard as a soft piano.
Download this video (MP4)
NGC 4736, X-ray Only Sonification
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
[Runtime: 00:34]
Audio Only Versions
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
[Runtime: 00:34]
Audio Only Versions
Download this video (MP4)
NGC 4736, Optical Only Sonification
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
[Runtime: 00:34]
Audio Only Versions
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
[Runtime: 00:34]
Audio Only Versions
Download this video (MP4)
ZwCl 0024+1652, Composite Sonification
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
[Runtime: 00:32]
Audio Only Versions
ZwCl 0024+1652 is a distant galaxy cluster where astronomers find evidence for dark matter in specially-processed data from Hubble. A traditional image from Hubble reveals the individual galaxies in the cluster. X-ray data from Chandra shows an enormous reservoir of superheated gas that pervades this galaxy cluster, which has much more mass than all the galaxies combined. For ZwCl 0024+1652, the sonification begins as a circle on the outside of the image and moves inward. The volume is linked to the brightness of the data, reaching one peak as the circle passes over the dark matter detected by inference from Hubble optical observations and another as it reaches the core. The background stars are heard as a swelling glockenspiel-like sound and the galaxies are played on a piano. Chandra’s X-rays, which dominate the center of the galaxy cluster and reveal superheated gas, are represented by airy synthesizer notes.
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
[Runtime: 00:32]
Audio Only Versions
ZwCl 0024+1652 is a distant galaxy cluster where astronomers find evidence for dark matter in specially-processed data from Hubble. A traditional image from Hubble reveals the individual galaxies in the cluster. X-ray data from Chandra shows an enormous reservoir of superheated gas that pervades this galaxy cluster, which has much more mass than all the galaxies combined. For ZwCl 0024+1652, the sonification begins as a circle on the outside of the image and moves inward. The volume is linked to the brightness of the data, reaching one peak as the circle passes over the dark matter detected by inference from Hubble optical observations and another as it reaches the core. The background stars are heard as a swelling glockenspiel-like sound and the galaxies are played on a piano. Chandra’s X-rays, which dominate the center of the galaxy cluster and reveal superheated gas, are represented by airy synthesizer notes.
Download this video (MP4)
ZwCl 0024+1652, X-ray Only Sonification
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
[Runtime: 00:32]
Audio Only Versions
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
[Runtime: 00:32]
Audio Only Versions
Download this video (MP4)
ZwCl 0024+1652, Optical Only Sonification
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
[Runtime: 00:32]
Audio Only Versions
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
[Runtime: 00:32]
Audio Only Versions
Download this video (MP4)
ZwCl 0024+1652, Dark Matter Only Sonification
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
[Runtime: 00:32]
Audio Only Versions
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
[Runtime: 00:32]
Audio Only Versions
Audio Only Versions (Downloads)
| All | .mp3 | .ogg | .wav |
|---|---|---|---|
| X-ray Only | .mp3 | .ogg | .wav |
| Optical/IR/UV Only | .mp3 | .ogg | .wav |
| All Wavelengths | .mp3 | .ogg | .m4r | .wav |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| X-ray Only | .mp3 | .ogg | .m4r | .wav |
| Optical Only | .mp3 | .ogg | .m4r | .wav |
| All Wavelengths | .mp3 | .ogg | .m4r | .wav |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| X-ray Only | .mp3 | .ogg | .m4r | .wav |
| Optical Only | .mp3 | .ogg | .m4r | .wav |
| Dark Matter Only | .mp3 | .ogg | .m4r | .wav |
Return to: NASA's Chandra Releases 'Red, White, and Blue' Universe for US 250th (June 30, 2026)
Revised: June 29, 2026