comma.data.space 11Ghz
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comma.data.space: 11 Ghz is comprised of audio captured from Jupiter and its moons, using from RT32/Little Star, the largest radio telescope at Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre in Latvia. It also uses the sounds of electron plasma oscillations, solar bursts, electrostatic emissions and radio storms from space, which have been recorded using telescopes from the United States. High frequency radio communication and satellite telecommunications originating from Russia and Latvia intercepted using satellite dishes is also audible within the soundscape.
langmuir waves
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'langmuir waves', like all these sound pieces, is part of an ongoing work entitled 'radio astronomy', which broadcasts sounds intercepted from space live on the internet and on the airwaves. The audio is created using sounds captured from the Sun, Jupiter's moons, Io, Callisto, Ganymede and Europa, and field recordings made at the ex-Soviet RT32 radio telescope in Latvia.
The amount of imagery associated with space is overwhelming. We can all look at space, in pictures on television and in books, but in popular culture, we have no sense of what space sounds like. Space is usually depicted as an aural void and thus most people associate space with silence. This is in fact a misnomer. Much of our scientific understanding of space is derived by listening to space through radio telescopes. Many objects emit radiation in the audible band, making it possible to hear the Universe. Space, as it turns out, is a very noisy place. And yet, very few people have ever heard space. Hardly any of us could describe the sound of a single planet or star.
'langmuir waves' makes audible the electron plasma oscillations, solar bursts, electrostatic emissions and radio storms of space.
comma.data.rtn
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comma.data.rtn is a sound composition made for the Acoustic Space Lab CD in 2001. It is based on field recordings made at radio telescopes, including audio from nearby galactic sources. comma.data.rtn explores how man-made technology can contribute to overcoming the profound sense of being isolated in the solar system.
vlf vs the sun
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"vlf vs the sun" was released on the second "Acoustic Space Lab" CD entitled "Acoustic Space Lab : Radio Astronomy" co-produced by r a d i o q u a l i a and RIXC media lab in Latvia. This piece features recordings of the sun made by r a d i o q u a l i a while resident in the Makrolab, Scotland) in collaboration with The Windward Community College Radio Telescope in Hawaii, USA. Recordings made of the ionosphere (VLF) are also used, recorded in the forests of Irbene near the RT32 radio telescope.
.sol.
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This sound piece was made using recordings made in Mexico City and at the IPS Array in Morelia.
We are familiar with many types of pollution that large cities bring - cars exhale carbon monoxide, and plumes of smoke from factories are common artefacts of modern urban life. However a less noticeable form of pollution are emissions made from electrical equipment. This pollution is seldom noticed by us as it comes in the form of frequencies emitted in the electromagnetic spectrum that we cannot see or hear. This pollution seldom hinders us, in the way (for example) that smog effects us, but the electromagnetic emissions effect the science of radio astronomy, which is the chief method we have for studying the sun.
The result is that astronomy no longer takes place in the cities like Mexico City, and observatories such as the IPS array must take refuge in isolated areas, far from the cities where early astronomy was an important component of cultural life.
.sol. investigates the relationship between electrical pollutants, in the form of urban electromagnetic noise, and electromagnetic the emissions of the sun. This sound piece comprises of VLF recordings made by r a d i o q u a l i a in the heart of Mexico City where early astronomy evolved. These recordings are of the electromagnetic pollutants of the city, the ambient hum of electrical life. In addition, r a d i o q u a l i a, in collaboration with The Mexican Interplanetary Scintillation Radiotelescope have made recordings of the sun.
K2
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In July 2003 r a d i o q u a l i a attended the first Locative Media Workshop at Latvian artspace K@2 (Karosta), and organised by the Locative Media Network. While there r a d i o q u a l i a was researching the "Radio Astronomy" project and recording the ambient noises of the amazing community of Karosta which was once a Russian Naval base. This piece combines these recordings with VLF and sun recordings made at RT32 (Irbene, Latvia).
background radiation
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The Sun is a very commonly heard object via radio astronomy. When there is a solar flare on the Sun's surface, it is often accompanied by a burst
of radio energy projected into space. This energy can be monitored with standard ShortWave and VHF radio receivers. Solar bursts typically last from half a
minute to a couple of minutes and often sound like a rapid hissing noise followed by a gradual decrease back to the original audio level.
"background radiation" features recordings of the sun and the constant ebb and flow of cosmic radiation. Some sounds off the mechanical movements of the RT32 dish and sounds of the control room are also included.
noise storms
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The complex interplay between the planet Jupiter and its volcanic moon ,Io, produces "radio noise storms", which can be heard on the radio band from
about 15MHz up to 38MHz.
A storm can last from a few minutes to several hours.
Two distinctive types of bursts can be received by radio astronomers during a storm.
L-Bursts (long bursts of radiation) vary slowly in intensity with time, lasting from a few seconds to several tens of seconds and have bandwidths of a few MHz.
L-Bursts sound like ocean waves breaking up on a beach.
S-Bursts (short bursts of radiation) have durations of a few thousandths to a few hundredths of a second and can occur at rates of tens of bursts per second.
Groups of S-Bursts sound like popcorn popping, or like a handful of pebbles thrown onto a tin roof.
This piece contains many recordings of Jupiter and noise storms as well as sounds of the sun done over the course of 2 years in collaboration with the Windward Community College Radio Telescope in Hawaii. Many of these sounds were recorded using the Radio Sky software while resident at the Makrolab in Scotland.