What does the universe sound like? NASA scientists have taken one step in the direction of finding out by converting gamma rays into a musical score...and you know what? It sounds pretty good.

Thanks to the Fermi Large Area (LAT) telescope, we can now 'see' gamma rays (high frequency electromagnetic waves) in the universe.  Gamma rays are comprised of photons (elementary particles), each of which have their own energy and frequency. The higher the energy, the higher the frequency. By measuring their frequency, we can convert rays into musical notes.

Gamma ray bursts are some of the most powerful explosions in the universe. A particularly explosive number back in 2008, the GRB 080916C, was captured by the LAT and is the basis for the musical track. During the brightest part of the explosion, the LAT detected 100s of gamma rays from the extremely-distant explosion. NASA converted the data to music and slowed the rates down by a factor of 5x to hear the individual gamma rays better. Each was then represented by a different instrument (harp, piano etc) and along with the accompanying animation,  illustrate the explosions journey.

It's an impressive project and great to see something so unbelievably complex represented in an accessible manner. So sit back, relax and listen to the universe!