How Loud Is the Sun?

How loud would the sun be measured on Earth if its soundwaves could propagate through space? The answer might surprise you, as solar physicists estimate that the solar surface noise would be approximately 100dB by the time it reaches Earth! The enormity of the sun’s surface paired with its capability of generating of tens of thousands of watts of sound energy per meter makes the sun astronomically loud.

The constant flow of rising hot material to the surface and sinking of cooled material toward the center creates a cacophony estimated to be 10x to the 100x the power flux through speakers at a rock concert. Except the speaker, in this case, is the entire surface of the sun, some 10,000 times larger than the surface area of the Earth.

Curious as to what the sun sounds like? Check out the links below to hear acoustical pressure waves that were caught by astronomers at Stanford University using a Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) which is attached to the SOHO spacecraft.

References

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Stanford Solar Center