One of the oldest known clusters of stars buried within our galaxy has been caught 'singing' by astronomers in Birmingham.
The research team, from the University of Birmingham's School of Physics and Astronomy, heard resonant acoustic oscillations of stars in 'M4' - a 13-billion-year-old cluster.
Using data from the Nasa Kepler/K2 mission, the team studied oscillations of stars using a technique called asteroseismology.
Listen to the stars 'singing' here.
Stars make sound naturally in the outermost layers of stars by turbulence and this gets trapped, similar to sound in a musical instrument.
As the star resonates, because of the sound trapped inside, it "breathes" in and out, which makes it appear brighter as it heats up and gets dimmer as it cools down.
Instead of actually listening to the stars, the oscillations lead to miniscule changes or pulses in brightness, meaning the sounds are observed indirectly in light.
By measuring the tones in this "stellar music", the researchers said it is possible to determine the mass and age of individual stars.
Dr Andrea Miglio, from the University of Birmingham's School of Physics and Astronomy, who led the study, said: "We were thrilled to be able to listen to some of the stellar relics of the early universe. The stars we have studied really are living fossils from the time of the formation of our Galaxy, and we now hope be able to unlock the secrets of how spiral galaxies, like our own, formed and evolved."
Professor Bill Chaplin added: "Just as archaeologists can reveal the past by excavating the earth, so we can use sound inside the stars to perform Galactic archaeology."
The research is published in the Royal Astronomical Society journal Monthly Notices.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
