Scientists Discover Chirping Cosmic Waves in an Unforeseen Region of Space

NEW YORK—Researchers have discovered cosmic waves that resemble the sound of birds chirping in an astonishing location.

These plasma emissions, known as chorus waves, oscillate at frequencies perceptible to the human ear. When transformed into audio signals, their crisp tones imitate high-pitched bird songs.

While scientists have previously recorded such sounds in space, this time they have detected the chirping waves from significantly greater distances: over 62,000 miles from Earth, where measurements had not been taken before.

“This opens up a multitude of new inquiries regarding the physics that may exist in this region,” remarked Allison Jaynes, a space physicist at the University of Iowa who was not part of the study.

Researchers remain uncertain about the causes of these disturbances, but they suspect that Earth’s magnetic field may play a role.

The chorus sounds have been detected via radio antennas for decades, including at a research station in Antarctica during the 1960s. Additionally, NASA’s twin Van Allen Probes previously picked up the chirps from Earth’s radiation belts at a closer range than the latest observation.

The most recent sounds were detected by NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale satellites, which were launched in 2015 to study the magnetic fields of Earth and the sun. The findings were published on Wednesday in the journal Nature.

Chorus waves have also been observed near other planets, including Jupiter and Saturn. They can generate high-energy electrons that may disrupt satellite communications.

“They represent some of the strongest and most important waves in space,” stated study author Chengming Liu from Beihang University in an email.

The newly discovered chorus waves were found in an area where Earth’s magnetic field is elongated, surprising scientists. This leads to intriguing questions regarding the origin of these chirping waves.

“It’s very captivating, very compelling,” Jaynes remarked. “We definitely need to identify more of these occurrences.”

By Adithi Ramakrishnan