A unique representation of the vast scope of the Chanda Source Catalog is found in this sonification, the translation of astronomical data into sound. This sonification encompasses a new map that includes 22 years of Chandra observations across the sky. Because many X-ray sources have been observed multiple times over the life of the Chandra mission, this sonification represents those repeated X-ray sightings over time through different notes.
In the view of the sky, projected similarly to how Earth is often depicted in world maps, the core of the Milky Way is in the center, and the Galactic plane is horizontal across the middle of the image. A circle appears at the position of each detection, with the size of the circle determined by the number of detections in that location over time. A year counter appears at the top of the frame, with the text changing to “… and beyond” after 2021 as the telescope continues to collect observations. During the video, a collage of images produced by Chandra fades in as a background. In the final frames of the video, thumbnail images representing the thousands of Chandra observations taken over the lifetime of the mission appear behind the sky map.
The Chandra sonifications were led by the Chandra X-ray Center (CXC), with input from NASA's Universe of Learning. The sustained collaboration was driven by visualization scientist Dr. Kimberly Arcand (CXC), astrophysicist Dr. Matt Russo and musician Andrew Santaguida (both of the SYSTEM Sounds project). For other sonifications, please see their linked pages.
