Using sounds and sonifications for astronomy outreach

Abstract

Good astronomy pictures, like those of the HST, play an important and wellknown role in astronomy outreach, triggering curiosity and interest. This same aim can also be achieved by means of sounds. Here we present the use of astronomy-related sounds and data sonifications to be used in astronomy outreach. These sounds, which people are unlikely to hear in the normal course of things, are a good tool for stimulating interest when teaching astronomy. In our case, sounds are successfully used in ‘‘The sounds of science,’’ a weekend science-dissemination program heard on the principal national radio station, Radio Nacional de Espan˜a (RNE). But teachers can also easily make use of these sounds in the classroom, since only a simple cassette player is needed.