Webb Telescope Data, Translated to Sound — Southern Ring Nebula

Experience the first full-color images and data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in a brand new way. In this video, each of Webb’s two views of the Southern Ring Nebula — in near-infrared light (at left) and mid-infrared light (at right) — has been adapted to sound. Sonifications support blind and low-vision listeners first, but are designed to be captivating to anyone who tunes in. This sonification, which scans the images from left to right, was adapted to a video to allow sighted viewers to watch as a vertical line moves across the frame. Two stars orbit one another at the center of this planetary nebula. The smaller, fainter red star in the mid-infrared image at right is at the end of its lifetime. It has puffed off layers of gas and dust for thousands of years. Its companion, the brighter, larger star in both images, has stirred up those ejections. Now, listeners can hear the stars and surrounding shells of material in each image clearly. The colors in the images were mappe