The question of whether the aurora borealis, which presents a fascinating visual feast with its fantastic colors, produces any discernible sound or not, has puzzled researchers for centuries. It is a well-known fact that the aurora, resulting from the interaction of solar particles with gas molecules in the Earth’s atmosphere, usually occurs near the Earth’s poles, where the magnetic field is strongest; however, reports of the aurora making a sound are extremely rare and have been dismissed by scientists for many years.
But a study conducted in Finland in 2016 claims to have confirmed that the northern lights do indeed produce a sound that can be heard by the human ear. According to a sound recording made by one of the researchers involved in the study, the sound of fascinating lights 70 meters above ground level can be heard. However, just like the conditions necessary for sound to be heard, the mechanism behind the sound still remains a mystery.
The fact that auroras have a voice was not accepted in the scientific world for many years.
auroral voice; Particularly in the first decade of the 20th century, it was the subject of debate when rumors from settlements in the northern latitudes reported that a ‘sound’ sometimes accompanied the mesmerizing light displays in the sky. According to eyewitnesses, an extremely quiet, almost inaudible crackling and buzzing sound could be heard during the specifically intense northern lights displays. Although similar rumors from Northern Canada and Norway support this situation, the scientific community was not convinced, as very few explorers claimed to have heard this sound.
The reliability of reports of auroral sounds from that time was also closely related to the altitude measurements of the northern lights. It was thought that only images descending into the Earth’s atmosphere could transmit sound that the human ear could hear. The main problem here was that the results recorded during the Second International Polar Year 1932-3 found that auroras most commonly occur within 100 km of Earth and very rarely below 80 km.
Accordingly, it was supposed to be impossible for the discernible sound from the lights to be transmitted to the Earth’s surface. Considering these findings, eminent physicists and meteorologists were skeptical of the issue and denied the reality of auroral sound. Even Sir Oliver Lodge, a famous physicist; He even said it could be a psychological reaction in people who claim to hear auroral sounds.
The existence of auroral sounds began to be officially accepted in the 1970s.
But Carl Størmer, the leading aurora scientist of the 20th century, published recordings written by two of his assistants who claimed to have heard the aurora, adding some legitimacy to large volumes of self-reports. Hans Jelstrup, Størmer’s assistant, said he heard “a very peculiar, faint whistling sound, distinctly wavy, which seemed to follow exactly the vibrations of the aurora”, while Mr Tjönn said he heard a sound like “burning grass or spray”. However convincing the statements of these last two witnesses were, they still did not make any statement about a mechanism by which the auroral sound could work.
The answer to this mystery was finally found in 1923 by a well-known Canadian astronomer, Clarence Chant. According to Chant, the movement of the northern lights changes the Earth’s magnetic field and can cause changes in the electrification of the atmosphere even at considerable distance. Chant’s claim, which received little attention in the 1920s, was accepted in the 1970s when two aurora physicists reviewed the historical evidence. Chant’s theory is widely used by scientists today; however, the debate on exactly how the sound generating mechanism works is still ongoing.
Auroral sounds inspired many composers
One thing is for sure, yes, auroras can rarely make sounds at frequencies that the human voice can hear. In other words, these discourses that have been going on for a long time are not fictitious or fabricated, on the contrary, they are an extremely objective reality. Moreover, auroral sounds have influenced many artists. For example, Ēriks Ešenvalds, a Latvian composer, has a composition called ‘Northern Lights’, which describes the auroral sound phenomenon based on the discourses of people who claim to hear the sound.
Northern Lights – Ēriks Ešenvalds
On the other hand, it is possible to listen to the radio signals of the northern lights at home. Although these radio frequencies are not exactly the same as hearing the audible sounds produced by the northern lights on top of a snowy mountain, they can help you gain some insight into the transient, volatile and dynamic nature of the aurora.
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