On April 10, a BepiColombo spacecraft flew to Earth near Mercury. Moving at a speed of over 3 km / s, the probe recorded peculiar sounds in the Earth's environment.
BepiColombo launched from Earth towards Mercury on October 20, 2018. However, to reach the first planet of the Solar System, the probe must use gravitational assistance from Earth, Venus and Mercury itself nine times during its journey. The entire trip to Mercury will take just over 7 years. After reaching the place, the probe will help us to get to know Mercury better. The probe itself consists of two orbiters: Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO), which will be responsible for creating very accurate maps of the planet's surface, and Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO), which - as the name suggests - will study the planet's magnetosphere.
According to information published by the European Space Agency, flying near Earth on April 10, the European-Japanese BepiColombo probe recorded five peculiar recordings of the Earth's magnetic field.
BepiColombo with a visit at home
Flying from 256 393 km to 129 488 km from Earth, the ISA instrument installed on board the probe recorded eight hours of measurements. Recordings were then condensed to a minute of sound (recording below). The Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) took care of the recording.
Vibrations caused by external and internal factors were recorded by our accelerometer - says Carmelo Magnafico from the team analyzing data from the ISA instrument. It's like putting an ear to the tracks to see if a train is coming.
Approaching the Earth's surface at a distance of 13,107 km, the BepiColombo probe was able to tighten the trajectory of its flight around the sun, using Earth's gravity.
In the shadow of the Earth
The moment when the probe flew into the shadow of the Earth, and the Earth (from the perspective of the probe) obscured the Sun, when the probe was at a distance of 16496 km, is clearly heard on the recording. The same happens when the probe leaves the shadow of Earth at a distance of 24861 km.
When the probe enters the shadow of the Earth and the solar wind disappears, you can hear gentle vibrations. Solar panels, previously deformed by the Sun, are back in balance. The opposite process occurs when the probe leaves the Earth's shadow, says Magnafico.
The very fact that the probe has recorded such a delicate influence of the Sun means that ISA is perfectly prepared to record even the smallest differences in movement.
Since the probe set off on a journey, it has been exposed to direct solar radiation all the time, which is why we could not check how effectively our instruments are able to measure differences in the intensity of solar radiation. It was only during the flight near Earth that we were able to check their operation. Fortunately, it turned out that the measurement results meet our expectations - adds Magnafico.
The recording ends when the probe emerges from Earth's influence at a distance of 31785 km from its surface.
The Earth's magnetic field melody
Flying through the Earth's magnetic field, the BepiColombo probe, or actually installed magnetometer on its board, recorded the following recording.
Eight hours of recording were compressed into an audio track with a length of 26 seconds. On the recording you can hear the moment when the probe encounters the shock wave, the point where the Earth's magnetosphere collides with the solar wind.
When passing through a turbulent magneto shield, it is heard when the probe crosses the magnetopause, an area where the Earth's magnetic field begins to dominate. If you listen well, you will hear the sound of the probe flywheels that position it in the right direction for observation
Listen to Earth with your BepiColombo probe heading for Mercury
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