How a blind astronomer found a way to hear the stars

Once there was a star,

like everything else, she was born
grilled (?) to be around 30x

the mass of our sun

and lived for a very long time.

Exactly how long?

People cannot really tell.

Just like everything in life,

she reached the end of her
regular star days

when her heart, the core of her life,
exhausted its fuel.

But that was no end.

She transformed into a supernovae,

and in the process, releasing a tremendous
amount of energy,

outshining the rest of the galaxy,

and emitting, in one second,
the same amount of energy

our sun will release in 10 days.

And she evolved into another role
in our galaxy.

Supernovae explosions are very extreme.

But the ones that emit gamma rays
are even more extreme.

In the process of becoming
a supernovae,

the interior of the star collaposes
under its own weight.

And it starts rotating ever-faster.

Like an ice skater when pulling
their arms in close to their body.

In that way, it starts rotating very fast
and it increases, powerfully,

its magnetic field.

The matter around the star
is dragged around,

and some energy from that rotation
is transferred to that matter

and the magnetic field is increased
even further.

In that way, our star had extra energy
to outshine the rest of the galaxy

in brightness and gamma ray emission.

My star, the one in my story,

became what is known as a magnetar.

And just for your information,

the magnetic field of a magnetar
is 1,000 trillion times

the magnetic field of earth.

The most energetic events
ever measured by astronmers

carry the name Gamma Ray Bursts

because we observe them as bursts
or explosions

most strongly measured as gamma ray light.

Our star, like the one in our story
that became a magnetar,

is detected as a gamma ray burst

through the most energetic
portion of the explosion.

Yet, even though gamma ray bursts
are the stongest events

ever measured by astronomers,

we cannot see them with our
naked eye.

We depend, we rely on other methods

in order to study this gamma ray light.

We cannot see them with our
naked eye.

We can only see an itty bitty, tiny
portion

of the electromagnetic spectrum
that call visible light.

And beyond that, we rely on other methods.

Yet as astronomers, we study a wider
range of light

and we depend on other methods to do that.

On the screen, it may look like this.

You're seeing a plot,

that is a light curve.

It's a plot of intensity of light
over time.

It is a gamma ray light curve.

Sighted astronomers depend on this
kind of plot

in order to interpret how this
light intensity changes over time.

On the left, you will be seeing
the light intensity without a burst,

and on the right, you will be seeing
the light intensity with the burst.

Early during my career, I could also
see this kind of plot.

But then, I lost my sight, I completely
lost my sight

because of an extended illness,

and with it, I lost the opportunity
to see this plot

and the opportunity to do my physics.

It was a very strong transition for me
in many ways.

And professionally, it left me
without a way to do my science.

I longed to access and scrutinize
this energetic light

and figure out the astrophysical cost.

I wanted to experience the spacious
wonder, the excitement,

the joy produced by the detection
of such a titanic celestial event.

I thought long and hard about it.

When I suddenly realized that all
a light curve is

is a table of numbers converted
into a visual plot.

So along with my collaborators,

we worked really hard and we translated
the numbers into sound.

I achieved access to the data,

and today I'm able to do physics
at the level of the best astronomer

using sound.

And what people have been able to do,
mainly visually,

for hundreds of years,

now I do it using sound.

(Applause)

Listening to this gamma ray burst
that you're seeing on the --

thank you --

that you're seeing on the screen,

brought something to the ear
beyond the obvious burst.

Now I'm going to play the burst for you,

it's not music, it's sound.

(Sound of the plot)

This is scientific data converted
into sound

and it's mapped in pitch,
the process is called sonification.

So listening to this brought something
to the ear

besides the obvious burst.

When I examine the very strong
low frequency regions,

or base line,

I'm zooming into the base line now --
or the base line,

we note the resonances that were
characteristic

of electrically charged gasses
like the solar wind.

And I want you to hear what I heard.

You will hear it as a very fast
decrease in volume.

And because you're sighted,

I'm giving you a red line indicating
to you

what intensity of light is being
converted into sound.

(Sound)

The (whistle) is frogs at home,
don't pay attention to that.

(Laughter)

(Sound)

I think you heard it, right?

So what we found is that the bursts
last long enough

in order to support wave resonances,

which are things caused by exchanges
of energy between particles

that may have been excited
that depend on the volume.

You may remember that I said
that the matter around the star

is dragged around?

It transmits power with frequency
and field distribution that

are determined by the dimensions.

And you may remember that
we were talking about

a supermassive star that became
a very strong magnetic field magnetar.

If this is the case, then outflows
from the exploding star

may be associated with this
gamma ray burst.

What does that mean?

That star formation may be
a very important part

of this supernovae explosion.

Listening to this very gamma ray burst

brought us to the notion that the use
of sound

as a adjunctive visual display

may also support sighted astronomers
in the search

for more information in the data.

Simultaneously, I worked on analyzing
measurements from other telescopes

and my experiments demonstrated
that when you use sound

as an adjunctive visual display,

astronomers can find more information

in this now more accessible data set.

And this ability to transform data
into sound

gives astronomy a tremendous power
of transformation.

And the fact that a field that is
so visual may be improved

in order to include anyone with interest
in understanding what in heaven lies

is a spirit-lifter.

When I lost my sight,

I noticed that I didn't have access
to the same amount

and quality of information
a sighted astronomer had.

It was not until we innovated
with the sonification process

that I regained the hope
to be a productive member

of the field that I have worked
so hard to be part of.

Yet, information access is not
the only area in astronomy

where this is important.

The situation is systemic

and scientific fields are not
keeping up.

The body is something changeable --

anyone may develop a disability
at any point.

And let's think about, for example,
scientists who are

already at the top of their careers,

what happens to them if they develop
a disability?

Will they feel excommunicated
as I did?

Information access empowers
us to flourish.

It gives us equal opportunities to display
our talents

and choose what we want to do
with our lives

based on interest and not based
on potential barriers.

When we give people the opportunity
to succeed without limits,

that will lead to personal fulfillment
and prospering life.

And I think that the use of sound
in astronomy

is helping us to achieve that
and to contribute to science.

While other countries told me
that the study of perception techniques

in order to study astronomy data
is not relevant to astronomy

because there are no bling astronomers
in the field,

South Africa said, "We want people
with disabilities

to contribute to the field."

Right now, I'm working at the
South African Astronomical Observatory

at the office of Astronomy
for Development.

There, we are working on
sonification techniques

and analysis methods
to impact the students

of the Athlone School for the Blind.

The se students will be learning
radio astornomy

and they will be learning
the sonification methods

in order to study astronomical events
like huge ejections of energy

from the sun, known as
coronal mass ejections.

What we learned with these students,

these students have multiple disabilities
and coping strategies

that will be accomodating.

What we learn with these students
will directly impact

the way things are being done
at the professional level.

I humbly call this development,

and this is happening right now.

I think that science is for everyone.

It belongs to the people,

and it has to be available
to everyone

because we are all natural explorers.

I think that if we limit people
with disabilities

from participating in science,

we'll sever our links with history
and with society.

I dream of a level
scientific playing field

where people encourage respect
and respect each other,

where people exchange strategies
and discover together.

If people with disabilities are
allowed into the scientific field,

an explosion, a huge titanic burst
of knowledge will take place,

I am sure.

(Sound of burst)

That is the titanic burst.

Thank you,

thank you.

(Applause)