MAGAZINE SECONDS SECONDS #26, 1994 • interview by George Petros Dr. Fiorella Terenzi Tune in with the luscious astrophysicist DOCTOR FIORELLA TERENZI to the coolest radio station from outer space, originating in the galaxy UGC 6697 (“UGC” stands for Universal Galactic Catalog). UGC 6697 is an irregular spiral galaxy, accompanied by a smaller companion galaxy, located about 180,000,000 light-years from Earth. UGC 6697 and its orbiting companion share a cloud of ionized gas. Violent interactions between these galaxies trigger very high rates of star formation. The UGC 6697 system is one of the most powerful radio sources in the universe. Within the torrent of incoherent incoming intergalactic information, Fiorella identified frequencies and intensities of waveforms in which she heard rhythm, and from there it was just a matter of groovin’ with the galactic vibrations as if they were any other form of electronic impulses fed into a synthesizer and summoned up as music. To produce the ultimate ambient vibe, Fiorella literally played the galaxy UGC 6697. Its intensity can now soothe us after a hard day listening to retro rap rock radio bullshit — making this one of the most powerful releases I’ve ever had — I mean, heard. 518 “There is a strong analogy between cosmic noise and music.” SECONDS: Are the rhythms of the universe on Earth and from that we analyze the reflected in the biological rhythms of the universe. From very little we get so much. human body? SECONDS: What celestial phenomena TERENZI: In a way, I would say yes. I generate radio waves? don’t know what exactly the relationship is. TERENZI: Radio waves are generated by Scientifically speaking, it looks like there is particle acceleration and particle collision. some effect the planets have on our systems, So it’s the same phenomenon — the on our bodies, and on our minds. The sun, electromagnetic spectrum is always the same for instance — we have a solar wind that phenomenon. interferes not only with our radios, but also SECONDS: Are radio sources in the universe with our bodies. We are regulated by the generally within galaxies that have collided? moon in the same manner. Jupiter — there TERENZI: One of the objects that emit are some strong magnetic storms generated radio waves in the universe is a radio galaxy there. Particles coming through the deep — very faraway objects. The radio objects universe reach Planet Earth and we study sometimes are very mysterious. If you look these particles and we understand the with your eyes at the universe, you don’t modern universe. see anything — and then when you look SECONDS: Is there an equivalent wave with the radio telescope you see big nebulae, form for these biological and electromagnetic big explosions. So radio objects are very rhythms? intriguing. Sometimes the radio objects are TERENZI: I can answer you scientifically the same things as the visual objects. Most and from a personal point of view. of the radio objects are invisible. You can Scientifically, there is a reflection. I don’t scan the universe with your eyes and not see know if you’d call it rhythm or symmetry, but anything, but then when you tune in on a there is a reflection between our solar system radio frequency — in gigahertz — a complete and atoms. We have electrons orbiting universe comes out. around the nucleus and we have planets SECONDS: That’s because the wavelengths orbiting around the sun, so there is some of radio waves are so long, and can travel symmetry that is reflecting in our micro through dust and gas clouds. little world. Now if we’re talking about some TERENZI: Yes. other kind of rhythm, I don’t know — maybe SECONDS: Now how big are some of the big yes, maybe no. Maybe time can be a rhythm. wavelengths? The deeper you can go into matter, into TERENZI: A kilometer. the particle, the more far out you go in the SECONDS: Are radio waves affected by the universe. dust and gas that hinders the travel of light? SECONDS: So maybe the heartbeat is the TERENZI: The dust particles are very small. same rhythm as a pulsar, on a different scale? They trap the light because the wavelength TERENZI: On a different scale. of light is similar to the size of the dust SECONDS: Maybe the same thing makes particles, and in these cases we have what both beat. we call absorption nebulae. The dust is not TERENZI: Well, yes, the universe runs on a able to absorb the larger radio waves. I think heartbeat. Take a pulsar, for instance. Maybe an advantage of radio waves is that we are it’s a different periodicity, different intervals able to receive them on Earth, because the of time, but it’s still similar to a human atmosphere does not absorb them. So we heart. are lucky. Still, there are some microwave, SECONDS: In a nutshell, what is the nature X-ray and infra-red observations for which of the electromagnetic radiation which fills it is very useful to be able to go outside our the universe? atmosphere. TERENZI: It’s mostly caused by the SECONDS: Could you give us a brief history acceleration and collision of particles. of radio astronomy? So when protons, electrons, and simple TERENZI: Radio astronomy started around molecules travel the universe, they accelerate 1933. The most well-known researcher in the presence of a gravitational and in radio astronomy was Karl Jansky. He magnetic field. There is an emission of was working on some kind of radio noise electromagnetic waves which we receive generated someplace he couldn’t locate. He 519 D r . F I O R E L L A T E R E N Z I was working with radio communication I hear melody. There is a microtonality, so between Europe and America, so he was not only does cosmic noise speak to us as working with headphones most of the time, European music, but it also speaks to us as checking out the signals, and all the time he Indian and Arabic music. That is a source of was hearing some strange background noise. inspiration. He was thinking, “where did it come from?” SECONDS: Within this noise, what is the So he started to analyze and found that the physical basis of the changes in intensity? ghost radio station emitting these noises TERENZI: First, the radio waves are unique was changing with the seasons, and was not for each celestial object. Each spectrum is located on Planet Earth. It was in the like a signature for a star, so we can catalog Milky Way, the center of our galaxy. That different stars. In the same way that you opened up a new field of research. have a visible light spectrum, you should SECONDS: What’s the primary function of be able to obtain an acoustic spectrum — a radio astronomy? unique signature. If you listen to plasma TERENZI: The primary function of radio waves, they’re completely different from astronomy is to analyze and to study the pulsars. universe by means of radio telescopes and to SECONDS: So acoustic astronomy will derive chemical and physical information. allow each celestial object to have an SECONDS: For your CD, how were cosmic acoustic signature. Were you the first to come signals collected? up with that? TERENZI: The radio waves were collected TERENZI: Yes, it’s my technique. You need with radio telescopes, like the large one in my software to do it. I did an alteration and New Mexico. extension of a program called cmusic by SECONDS: How do radio telescopes work? Professor Richard Moore at the University TERENZI: Radio telescopes are big radio of California San Diego Computer Audio receivers. With the Very Large Array Radio Research Laboratory. Telescope, there are twenty-seven separate SECONDS: Intensity and frequency are antennae — twenty-seven different radio the common denominators between galactic telescopes. You use interferometry because signals and music. you have twenty-seven different signals. TERENZI: I love your term “the common SECONDS: What does interferometry do? denominator.” It’s perfect. Listen to musical TERENZI: It combines the outputs of two or notes — you have intensity, which gives you more antennae. a loud sound or a less loud sound, and you SECONDS: So it synchronizes two or more have frequency, which gives you pitch. We antennae? tune our musical instruments to the note A TERENZI: It synchronizes two or more at 440 Hertz — 440 vibrations per seconds antennae spread over great distances, — and you can play that A very loud or effectively creating one large antenna. very soft. It’s the same thing with galactic SECONDS: So you essentially use a radio radiation. You have frequencies that are very, receiver like the one a person would have at very high. As for intensity, some are weak, home? some are strong. TERENZI: Yes. The receiver is a little bit SECONDS: What other types of different, and the antenna is like the satellite electromagnetic radiation can be transformed dishes you see for television — exactly the into earthly music? same but fifty times bigger. TERENZI: I would say all of the SECONDS: And millions of times more electromagnetic functions, from gamma to sensitive. X-ray to ultraviolet to infrared. You just TERENZI: Exactly. need the technique. The gamma ray universe SECONDS: What is the relationship of has been so little observed because our celestial noise to earthly music? technology is limited. It’s only in the last TERENZI: That’s an interesting question. six or seven years we’ve been able to do For me, having converted these radio signals something significant, but still we don’t have into sound using acoustic astronomy, there is any clue of what really is in the gamma a strong analogy between cosmic noise and universe.