SOUNDS FROM A COMET ENCOUNTER

The electromagnetic sounds recorded by Rosetta on its cometary encounter required considerable processing to make them audible to human ears. But when an earlier probe, NASA’S Stardust, flew past the comet Tempel 1 in 2011, it ‘heard’ something much closer to real sounds. While sound waves can’t travel through space, dust grains and larger debris breaking off the comet could be heard when they hit the probe’s protective shield. Around 5,000 impacts were detected over an 11-minute period as the spacecraft was pelted by fragments of dust and ice.

Artist’s impression of the Stardust probe, which recorded sounds of dust impacts from a comet