5000 Exoplanets: Listen to the Sounds of Discovery

Abstract

In March of 2022, NASA announced the discovery of the 5000th planet orbiting a star other than our sun (an exoplanet). We have created a sonification and visualization to celebrate this milestone and to communicate the exciting history of discovery to the general public. Our work provides a visceral experience of how humanity’s knowledge of alien worlds has progressed. A relatively simple and straightforward sonification mapping is used to make the informational content as accessible to the general public as possible. Listeners can see and hear the timing, number, and relative orbital periods of the exoplanets that have been discovered to date. The sonification was experienced millions of times through NASA’s social media channels and there are plans to update the sonification as future milestones are reached.