Why can't we hear sound from the sun?

Originally posted by GrOuNd_ZeRo
I have no proof for this so this is pure speculation...

Any of us with sense are well aware of that..

The only way I can imagine atoms affecting each other from that far apart is by gravity, and even that is a LONG shot.

You COULD be a little bit nicer to me y'know, just a thought...

But if there aint sound in space those hollywood movies wouldn't be realistic c'mon, you know they are

Ugh...I am just gonna shut up...

Originally posted by XL5
There is maybe 1 atom per every meter of space. Even if it was an atom per foot, that atom would need to be pushed by what ever and hit other atoms and somehow reach your ears.

You need alot of atoms bunched up to give you a good sound "resolution" so if you did hear things in space it would be the sound of one or two atoms going "ping" off of the reciever. The atom has to enter your ear and hit your ear drum for you to hear it! Its like a game of pool with a 100yard pool table and invisible balls.

I think this quote explains the solution to what I was trying to ask, precisely. This is what I did not understand. If the space between gas molecules is greater than the wavelength, then it cannot travel. Am I correct in this hypothesis? If the space is dense, then sound can travel better. Sound, which is a vibration, can travel easier in a solid than a gas because it is more dense. In a gas, once the space between atoms or molecules is greater than the wavelength, then it cannot travel? I think I got what you are saying.

Originally posted by Frosty

Originally posted by ben91069

Originally posted by Frosty
Sure right angles exist, if they did not exist then no angle would exist.

Well I disagree that an exact angle exists in the real world. Tell me how to make a perfect angle except with math. If it is off by a mere .00000001" over a distance of a million miles, then it isn't exaclty what you say it is. All I am saying is that we only have 'close' angles in reality.

Oh, yeah, talk about minute differences between 89.99999999 and 90. IF you are able to measure it for its diffecieny, you should be able to recalibrate it shouldn't you?

Oh my God, you almost stumped me into thinking this was another paradox, but then I realized something. What things are you saying is making these precise measurements? I am a machinist and within that realm, which usually is measured down to .0001, the CMM (cooridante measurement machines) are ultimately based on input from digital encoders. They are only as precise as they are manufactured. The best measurements we can make is probably bouncing modulated lasers off of a surface, but we still cannot mass produce production grade machines that can make things that precise. I know of nothing in nature that is naturally a perfect angle. I think everything is off - a little.

I am not trying to be a perfectionist about it, just trying to say that a perfect angle, line, shape, etc. does not exist in reality.

Originally posted by GrOuNd_ZeRo
You COULD be a little bit nicer to me y'know, just a thought...

The more strongly I can discourage you from knowingly throwing out bunk information in the future, the better.

Originally posted by XL5
There is maybe 1 atom per every meter of space. Even if it was an atom per foot, that atom would need to be pushed by what ever and hit other atoms and somehow reach your ears.

You need alot of atoms bunched up to give you a good sound "resolution" so if you did hear things in space it would be the sound of one or two atoms going "ping" off of the reciever. The atom has to enter your ear and hit your ear drum for you to hear it! Its like a game of pool with a 100yard pool table and invisible balls.

Whaaaaaaaa?

Are you serious?

I am not trying to be stupid here, but my concept of space does not include distances of a meter with no atoms in it. Something has to be there.

Since you've revived this thread, I have a question for other posters here. If we can't hear the sun due to the vacuum of space, how is it that we hear pulsars and other sounds from places like Saturn?

A perfect vacuum like space has very very few atoms of gas in it and are spaced very far apart. Things that make noise without throwing off atoms will not be able to tarnsfer the vibration to an atom, like 2 cups without the string.

www.youtube.com...

If there were alot of atoms in space, wether it was hydrogen, helium, argon, neon, nitrogen, xenon or any other "light" atom. we would have sounds in space AND suns/stars would never run out of thier fuel (they do run out).

As for the sounds from space (suns/stars) thats not audio as no atoms are moving. They hear this sound with radio telescope (dishs), plasmas and electrical discharges make "electrical sounds" that can travel through a vacuum.

The problem with the question is the interpretation of the word sound, We are swimming in the sun's plasma atmosphere, the earth does resonate with the sun. The frequency is to far to low to hear, with your ears that is..

Scientists from the Ulysses mission have proven that sounds generated deep inside the Sun cause the Earth to shake and vibrate in sympathy. They have found that Earth’s magnetic field, atmosphere and terrestrial systems, all take part in this cosmic sing-along.

www.esa.int...

The sun vibrates like a bell that is continually struck. But the sun produces more than 10 million individual "tones" at the same time. The vibrations of the solar gas are mechanically similar to the vibrations of air -- also a gas -- that we know as sound waves. Astronomers therefore refer to the solar waves as sound waves, though the vibrations are much too slow for us to hear. The fastest solar vibrations have a period of about 2 minutes. A vibration's period is the amount of time taken for a complete cycle of vibration -- one back-and-forth movement of the vibrating object. The slowest vibration that a human being can hear has a period of about 1/20 of a second.

www.nasa.gov...

reply to post by PrplHrt


Those are not sonic vibrations, but rather EM radiation, or more precisely, synchrotron radiation from the cosmic body's magnetic fields.

Sounds do exist in space though, such as the roar of the Big Bang. Its frequency is far below what our standard instruments can detect.