Sometimes kids ask really simple questions \u2013 and parents have no idea what the answers are. When one of our colleagues was asked what it sounds like on the planet Uranus, she was stumped. And so were we! So we asked an expert. (And, yes, we know this subject lends itself to jokes about flatulence, but we\u2019ll let you come up with your own jokes \u2013 this is a pun-free post.)<\/p>\n
Paul Byrne<\/a> is a planetary geologist and an assistant professor in NC State\u2019s Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences. Because Byrne studies how (and why) planets look the way they do, we figured that he\u2019d be a great person to talk to about what Uranus might sound like. And we were right!<\/p>\n What Would It Sound Like If You Were On Uranus?<\/strong><\/p>\n Basically, it would sound windy. (Again, you will have to supply your own puns here.)<\/p>\n \u201cThis answer depends on where on Uranus you are,\u201d Byrne says. \u201cUranus is what we call an \u2018ice giant,\u2019 and is composed almost entirely of gases and fluids, so there\u2019s no real ground to stand on. From a distance \u2013 in other words, in space \u2013 there\u2019s no sound at all (space is a vacuum, and sound doesn\u2019t travel in a vacuum \u2013 or, at least, not very well<\/a>), so you won\u2019t be able to hear Uranus. But within the atmosphere itself, there\u2019s plenty of sound; there\u2019s wind, which you could hear if you were able to fly through the atmosphere in a helicopter, say, or in a balloon.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s extremely difficult and expensive to get any kind of vehicle to Uranus, so it\u2019ll be a long time before we really do hear the planet\u2019s weather, but it\u2019s certainly possible.\u201d<\/p>\n This made us think of another question. We know that there are radio telescopes<\/a> that collect radio waves from radio sources in space, but \u2026<\/p>\n Do Planets Emit Radio Waves?<\/strong><\/p>\n In a word: yes.<\/p>\n \u201cAll the giant planets in our solar system \u2013 Jupiter and Saturn (together called \u2018gas giants\u2019), as well as Neptune and Uranus \u2013 emit radio signals,\u201d Byrne says. \u201cSo pointing a radio telescope at these worlds means that we\u2019re able to \u2018hear\u2019 them this way, too. But the difference is that we\u2019re \u2018hearing\u2019 them at radio frequencies, instead of what we normally consider as \u2018sound\u2019 (which is caused by minor vibrations in air, water or some other medium).<\/p>\n \u201cIn fact, Jupiter is the second-noisiest body in the solar system, in terms of radio emissions, after the sun,\u201d Byrne says. \u201cUranus and Neptune are the least noisy of these four giant planets. Jupiter\u2019s radio noisiness is due, in part, to the fact that it\u2019s closer to Earth than those other worlds. But mainly, it seems, Jupiter is so noisy because it is just much bigger \u2013 Jupiter is about three times more massive than Saturn, and more than 20 times more massive than Uranus and Neptune.\u201d<\/p>\n What Can We Learn About Planets From Radio Waves?<\/strong><\/p>\n A lot.<\/p>\n \u201cListening to giant planets at radio frequencies can tell us a great deal about their composition and interior structure, and even their weather systems,\u201d Byrne says. \u201cWe can learn about their magnetic fields (all giant planets have internally powered magnetic fields, just as Earth does, although the mechanisms creating these fields are probably different between the giants and our rocky world). And it\u2019s also possible to determine the rate at which the giant planets are rotating.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, doing so is much easier with a spacecraft near a planet, rather than from Earth \u2013 which is exactly what NASA\u2019s Voyager 2 spacecraft did when it flew past Uranus in 1986<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n What Do Radio Waves Tell Us About Uranus?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cA lot of what we know about Uranus comes from the Voyager 2 probe, which carried a variety of instruments including a radio experiment,\u201d Byrne says. \u201cVoyager 2 was able to help measure the rotation rate of Uranus, and was even able to hear bursts of radio waves that could have been lightning!\u201d<\/p>\n This post was originally published<\/a> in NC State News.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false,"raw":" Sometimes kids ask really simple questions \u2013 and parents have no idea what the answers are. When one of our colleagues was asked what it sounds like on the planet Uranus, she was stumped. And so were we! So we asked an expert. (And, yes, we know this subject lends itself to jokes about flatulence, but we\u2019ll let you come up with your own jokes \u2013 this is a pun-free post.)<\/p>\n\n Paul Byrne<\/a> is a planetary geologist and an assistant professor in NC State\u2019s Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences. Because Byrne studies how (and why) planets look the way they do, we figured that he\u2019d be a great person to talk to about what Uranus might sound like. And we were right!<\/p>\n\n What Would It Sound Like If You Were On Uranus?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Basically, it would sound windy. (Again, you will have to supply your own puns here.)<\/p>\n\n \u201cThis answer depends on where on Uranus you are,\u201d Byrne says. \u201cUranus is what we call an \u2018ice giant,\u2019 and is composed almost entirely of gases and fluids, so there\u2019s no real ground to stand on. From a distance \u2013 in other words, in space \u2013 there\u2019s no sound at all (space is a vacuum, and sound doesn\u2019t travel in a vacuum \u2013 or, at least, not very well<\/a>), so you won\u2019t be able to hear Uranus. But within the atmosphere itself, there\u2019s plenty of sound; there\u2019s wind, which you could hear if you were able to fly through the atmosphere in a helicopter, say, or in a balloon.<\/p>\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s extremely difficult and expensive to get any kind of vehicle to Uranus, so it\u2019ll be a long time before we really do hear the planet\u2019s weather, but it\u2019s certainly possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n