Uploaded August 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Experience the first full-color images and data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in a brand new way. A near-infrared image of the Cosmic Cliffs in the Carina Nebula, captured by NASA’s Webb Telescope, has been mapped to a symphony of sounds to create a data sonification.
This video only includes sounds from the bottom half of the image, which resembles a mountain range in ruddy shades of orange and red. This half of the image has a meandering melodic line to follow the shape of that “mountain range” as it rises and falls in the image, through the center of the frame, from left to right. The jagged line between denser and thinner areas of gas and dust is the arc of the sonification’s melody. Dimmer, dust-obscured areas that appear lower in the image are represented by lower frequencies and clearer, undistorted notes. All stars are represented by a combination of pitches and processed piano notes, but the brightest stars with longer diffraction spikes also carry crashes and clangs from cymbals.
Sonifications support blind and low-vision listeners first, but are designed to be captivating to anyone who tunes in. This sonification, which scans the image from left to right, was adapted to a video to allow sighted viewers to watch as a vertical line moves across the frame.
Brighter light in the image is louder. The vertical position of light also dictates the frequency of sound. For example, bright light near the top of the image sounds loud and high, but bright light near the bottom is loud and lower pitched.
This sonification does not represent sounds recorded in space. Two musicians mapped the telescope’s data to sound, carefully composing music to accurately represent details the team would like listeners to focus on. In a way, this sonification is like modern dance or an impressionist painting – it converts Webb’s image to a new medium to engage and inspire listeners. Learn more: nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-webb-s-first-full-color-images-data-are-set-to-sound
Also listen to:
1. The full sonification:
youtu.be/j9shIxS-W-8
2. The top of the image: youtu.be/ZjJpJwVEe2A
3. Stars only: youtu.be/L-STysURL1U
Want more Webb sonifications? Check out the Southern Ring Nebula sonifications (youtu.be/La9DB-bcy5Y), and the WASP-96 b sonification (youtu.be/vqa94WD6smc).
Credits: Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI; Accessibility Production: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and Kimberly Arcand (CXC/SAO), Matt Russo and Andrew Santaguida (SYSTEM Sounds), Quyen Hart (STScI), Claire Blome (STScI), and Christine Malec (consultant).
Experience the first full-color images and data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in a brand new way. A near-infrared image of the Cosmic Cliffs in the Carina Nebula, captured by NASA’s Webb Telescope, has been mapped to a symphony of sounds to create a data sonification.
This video only includes sounds from the bottom half of the image, which resembles a mountain range in ruddy shades of orange and red. This half of the image has a meandering melodic line to follow the shape of that “mountain range” as it rises and falls in the image, through the center of the frame, from left to right. The jagged line between denser and thinner areas of gas and dust is the arc of the sonification’s melody. Dimmer, dust-obscured areas that appear lower in the image are represented by lower frequencies and clearer, undistorted notes. All stars are represented by a combination of pitches and processed piano notes, but the brightest stars with longer diffraction spikes also carry crashes and clangs from cymbals.
Sonifications support blind and low-vision listeners first, but are designed to be captivating to anyone who tunes in. This sonification, which scans the image from left to right, was adapted to a video to allow sighted viewers to watch as a vertical line moves across the frame.
Brighter light in the image is louder. The vertical position of light also dictates the frequency of sound. For example, bright light near the top of the image sounds loud and high, but bright light near the bottom is loud and lower pitched.
This sonification does not represent sounds recorded in space. Two musicians mapped the telescope’s data to sound, carefully composing music to accurately represent details the team would like listeners to focus on. In a way, this sonification is like modern dance or an impressionist painting – it converts Webb’s image to a new medium to engage and inspire listeners. Learn more: nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/nasa-webb-s-first-full-color-images-data-are-set-to-sound
Also listen to:
1. The full sonification:
youtu.be/j9shIxS-W-8
2. The top of the image: youtu.be/ZjJpJwVEe2A
3. Stars only: youtu.be/L-STysURL1U
Want more Webb sonifications? Check out the Southern Ring Nebula sonifications (youtu.be/La9DB-bcy5Y), and the WASP-96 b sonification (youtu.be/vqa94WD6smc).
Credits: Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI; Accessibility Production: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and Kimberly Arcand (CXC/SAO), Matt Russo and Andrew Santaguida (SYSTEM Sounds), Quyen Hart (STScI), Claire Blome (STScI), and Christine Malec (consultant).
