A Sonification of the zCOSMOS Galaxy Dataset

Abstract

This paper proposes a sonification for zCOSMOS, an astronomical dataset that contains information about 20,000 galaxies. The goals of such an initiative are multiple: providing a sound-based description of the dataset in order to make hidden features emerge, hybridizing science with art in a cross-domain framework, and treating scientific data as cultural heritage to be preserved and enhanced, thus breaking down the barriers between scientists and the general audience. In the paper, both technical and artistic aspects of the sonification will be addressed. Finally, some relevant excerpts from the resulting sonification will be presented and discussed.

The Sonified Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram

“…While in sonification, observed measurements may be transformed into indirect quantities before turning them into sound, a special case is audification, where measurements are directly translated into sound. There has been a proliferation of sonification work linking astronomy and music in a number of different ways [15,16,17,18,19,20]. Much like with data visualization, the implementation details of a sonification are guided by the goals and intended outcomes in creating them, usually one or a mix of outreach, scientific research and artistic project.…”

“…[25] point out the potential usefulness of sonification in the context of analyzing large, complex data sets, where sonification can provide additional channels of encoding information that would otherwise clutter a visualization. [19] created a sonification of the zCOSMOS galaxy data set, translating a high-dimensional data set of galaxy properties into various types of sound. They, among others, particularly emphasize the use of the principle of ecological metaphors whereby sonifications are generated in such a way that the relationship between sound and the underlying data matches the intuitive expectations of the listener (for example, by connecting sound volume to absolute magnitude of a galaxy).…”