Discovering mysterious sound waves around Mercury

Astronomers have discovered very special sound waves around Mercury: this is it.

According to astronomersSomething…magically happens around planets with magnetospheres. If you’re listening With appropriate tools You can hear chirps and whistles, almost like birdsong at dawn and dusk. These specific sound waves have been recorded on Earth, on Jupiter and Saturn, but also around Uranus and Neptune. But now there is a mystery also related to Mercury.

Mysterious sound waves

Led by astronomer Mitsunori Ozaki of Kanazawa UniversityScientists have discovered faint whistles around Mercury. This is interesting, because other planets have some things that Mercury does not: thick atmospheres and especially radiation belts where the Sun’s particles are trapped in the planet’s magnetic field. Scientists say this is a discovery that could shed light on the magnetic environment around Mercury and how planetary magnetic fields are shaped by solar wind.

Mercury does not have a large magnetic field. It’s a bare piece of rock, with an almost non-existent atmosphere, that’s too close to the sun to sustain it. It is constantly affected by radiation and also by solar winds. But this naked world hides secrets. Just this year, scientists finally discovered that Mercury, despite its almost complete absence of a magnetic field and atmosphere, has an aurora.

But long before this discovery, scientists thought Mercury might have sound waves. These conditions occur when energetic electrons become trapped in the planet’s magnetosphere, spiraling along magnetic field lines and generating waves in the plasma. Thanks to the BepiColombo mission and the MIO instrument dedicated to studying Mercury’s magnetosphere, researchers have found evidence of these faint waves. More studies will be needed to confirm its origin, but there is no doubt that this small planet hides secrets that have not yet been revealed.

References: Science Alert