Longitudinal waves in the Universe / Sounds of the Sun

Discussion in 'Free Thoughts' started by river, Oct 13, 2018.

  1. river

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    Are longitudinal waves included in our understanding of the Universe ?
     
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  3. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Lots of things have longitudinal waves.

    For the question to make sense you would have to define what things you are asking about.
     
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  5. river

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    It seems to me that if we are not looking for longitudinal waves , then we will not find evidence of life in the Universe . why though ?

    Because we will not find any sound . the sun makes a sound
     
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  7. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Erm. Sound does not travel through a vacuum.

    Any sound the sun makes is transmitted beyond its gaseous envelope. And they certainly don't travel between the stars.
     
  8. river

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    true , but since the sound of the sun does exist , implies that sound has a medium in which to travel .

    how do know this ?
     
  9. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Anything that has internal dynamic motion can be said to generate sound. The Sun definitely has dynamic motion, as witnessed by solar quakes.

    The only way to receive this sound is to be immersed in the medium itself - i.e. you would have to be inside the Sun, or at least in the thick of its gaseous envelope, which does not extend very far beyond its surface.

    Sound does not travel through space. Nor can we hear the Sun here on Earth.

    Youtube video will try to convince you otherwise, but don't believe them.
     
  10. river

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    So in essence , we don't use longitudinal waves to understand the Universe .
     
  11. river

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    hmm I understand
     
  12. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Sure we do.

    [ Retracted I have misspoken. about light having longitudinal waves ]
     
  13. river

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  14. river

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    I went on youtube for the sounds of the sun . it exists

    I will try again to put you through to this youtube spot

     
  15. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Indeed. We receive lots of information from the Sun. Some of that information can have harmonics that are less than 15,000Hz.
    It vibrates physically, which we can pick up by its Doppler shift in the light we receive.

    If we convert that signal into an impulse and play it through a speaker, we will hear sound.

    But rest assured, that is not "sound coming from the Sun".
     
  16. river

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    you realise you are not making sense ?
     
  17. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    I realize that a lot of things are confusing to you.
     
  18. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Again:

    The Sun oscillates at low frequencies.
    But these oscillations are not recorded with audio equipment, but by measuring the Doppler shift of its surface, i.e. measuring how the surface wobbles up and down.
    We observe these Doppler shifts in the light we get from the Sun (which CAN travel through the vacuum of space).

    The frequencies can be processed and rendered so that they are output from a speaker.

    But that is not "sound coming from the Sun". Sound does not travel through vacuum.

    More to the point: it does not travel across interstellar space, and the Doppler shifts of a distant sun will tell us nothing about life there - any more than our own Sun's oscillations indicate life here.
     
  19. river

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    yeah you are .

    Nasa collected sounds from the Sun
     
  20. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Don't believe what you see on Youtube.
     
  21. river

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    go to NASA sounds of the Sun on youtube . I did , it has over a million hits .
     
  22. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    I am well aware of the video.

    It is an oversimplification of what is actually happening. What we receive form the Sun is light. Light can travel in a vacuum. Sound cannot.

    We observe the sun with light. We see the oscillations in the frequencies of light as Doppler shift. We can extract those low frequencies from the Doppler shift and process them to come out of our speakers.

    And indeed, if you were inside the Sun, you could hear them. But the sound cannot travel through vacuum.

    And, by the way, they are not longitudinal waves. That would require a medium. And vacuum is not a medium.
     
  23. river

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    Obviously you are wrong . there is a medium upon which sound is detected .

    whats more you are saying NASA is wrong .
     

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