Explore the Signals from space!

CORY is LIVE

CORY is now detecting signals from space and you can explore them here through this web page. Over the coming weeks this page will change as we add new ways of showing the signals. To begin, you can listen to the signals, or you can look at a graph of how the signals change with time. Shortly, you will be able to listen to how musicians convert the signals into fun electronic sounds and view how web designers convert them into exciting visual displays.

What is CORY detecting?

CORY is currently tuned to detect a particular signal, much like you can tune a radio to your favourite radio station. The signals we have tuned into come from the smallest, and most abundant element in the universe – Hydrogen! Hydrogen consists of a nucleus (a single positively charged particle called a proton) around which a negatively charged electron orbits.

On Earth, Hydrogen is rarely found in this form, because pure Hydrogen is usually unstable – in fact pure Hydrogen is highly inflammable in the presence of oxygen! Hydrogen is most commonly found attached to other atoms to form molecules. The most familiar molecule to you and me is water – H₂0, consisting of two hydrogen atoms (H₂) bonded to a single oxygen atom (O).

In space, however, Hydrogen is often found floating around in huge clouds of pure Hydrogen gas. The sizes of these clouds is truly mind boggling. Our Solar System (consisting of the Sun and eight planets) would be totally dwarfed by many of them. It is the Hydrogen in these clouds that CORY is detecting right now!

Where are the Hydrogen Clouds?

The Hydrogen clouds are many trillions of kilometres away – some much farther than that! Since distances are so vast in space, astronomers often use the term “lightyear” to describe distances to objects in space. A lightyear is the distance light travels in a year, which is huge by our everyday experiences. For example, light travels seven times around the world in just one second! So imagine how far it travels in one year – one lightyear!!

Most of the Hydrogen clouds detected by CORY are in our own galaxy – the Milky Way. Some are in distant galaxies and would have started on their journey to earth when dinosaurs roamed the planet. Just think how much the earth has changed since then.

How can I “listen” to the signals from space?

To begin with, you can listen to a sample of the signals by clicking here. This audio has been generated by CSM (CIT Cork School of Music) and uses the loudnesses or strength of the signal to create new sounds. Any changes in the signal strength have a direct effect on the sound being produced.

Listen carefully to the sound. Does it get louder sometimes and fainter at other times? You may have to listen for some minutes to hear a change. When the hiss is louder it means that CORY is detecting signals from a cloud of Hydrogen passing overhead.

How can I “see” the signals from space

Your eyes cannot directly see the radio signals. This is not so surprising. You cannot “see” signals from mobile phones, but your phone converts them into sounds and pictures.  The signals from CORY do not make a picture, but by clicking here you can see a graph which shows how the brightness of the signal has changed with time. Whenever the graph shows peaks, that is where the signal is strongest and where the clouds of Hydrogen were most strongly detected.

In conjunction with the Department of Multimedia Communications in CIT, there will be enhanced visual and audio representations of the signal coming to our website.

Stay tuned for further updates…

Learn More!

To learn more about “Fun Facts for Students and Teachers” click here. http://www.bco.ie/education/name-the-big-dish/fun-facts-for-teachers-and-students/

To learn more about “Radio Telescopes and How they Work” click here.

http://www.bco.ie/education/name-the-big-dish/radio-telescopes/

And don’t forget to revisit this webpage for frequent updates on Big Dish CORY!