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What’s the Sound of One Black Hole Singing?

Posted by geeknews at 6:25 PM on September 17, 2003

What is the tone that a black hole makes when it sings? It’s a sound so low that it will send chills up your spine. The tone, a B flat 57 octaves lower than middle C, which is 256 Hertz. Sounds as low as the black hole singing are detected as pressure waves, rather than as sounds.

According to Dr. Andrew Fabian of the Institute for Astronomy at Cambridge University, this tone, emanating from a black hole in the Perseus cluster of galaxies, is the lowest note in the universe. The note has been traveling toward Earth for 250 million light years.

Dave’s Opinion
What else can I say but “How low can you go?”

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

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One Comment

  1. From neozen at 6:13 pm on September 19, 2003

    if it is so low that it is detected as pressure waves, how do they know they’re not confusing a pressure wave with a note thet doesnt exist?