Want to know what’s inside a star? Listen closely
Sounds from stars are proving useful to astronomers
In the 1960s astronomers discovered that the Sun was pulsating—expanding and contracting regularly every five minutes. As well as this main oscillation, they later found millions more, each with a unique rhythm. The oscillations were the result of pressure waves that had been bouncing around inside the Sun. As such, they carried with them valuable information about the gases and conditions inside the star. Just as geologists used seismic waves caused by earthquakes to glean information about the rocky innards of Earth, astronomers began to use “sunquakes” to take a peek inside the nearest star.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Rumbles from the deep”
From the September 17th 2022 edition
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