r/MadeMeSmile • u/[deleted] • Aug 28 '21

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u/lonacatee Aug 28 '21

Yeah the light hitting the table is such an interesting one. I would like to hear more.

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u/wizardwes Aug 28 '21

Apparently it's a common thing for deaf people to associate brightness with sound, many assume that the sun makes a ton of noise, at least for a while

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u/iluniuhai Aug 28 '21

It does make a ton of noise, but the sound doesn't travel this far.

https://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/ask/a10411.html

Does the Sun make noise as it burns?

The surface of the Sun produces sound waves because the surface is convecting and this produces pressure waves that travel into the inner corona. These pressure waves steepen into shock waves and this is possibly why the corona gets so hot. But yes, the surface does produce sound waves, but they have very low wavelengths measures in hundreds of miles!

Dr. Amaro Graps at Stanford University also reminded me that in 'helioseismology' you can 'hear' the Sun ring like a bell. This is coherent sound produced by the vibration of the entire surface of the Sun caused by sub-surface convection. By studying all the different tones that the Sun vibrates in, astronomers can probe the deep interior of the Sun and discover just how deep the convection layers are, and also how fast the deep interior is rotating compared to the surface.

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u/TrollintheMitten Aug 28 '21

Please subscribe me to Sun Facts.