Space acoustics research
at the University of Southampton
Centre for
Ultrasonics and Underwater Acoustics
Contact:
T G Leighton
Acoustics offers the
possibility of obtaining complementary information to more orthodox
sensors on space probes. Click
here and
here for more details.
Projects on Titan and
Europa and discussed below. |

Click on button for
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Titan |
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Before the Huygens probe landed on Titan
(moon of
Saturn) in January 2005, it was not known to what extent there might be
liquid on the surface. Before the landing we simulated the sound of a
possible 'methanefall' on Titan by transposing the sound of an Earth
waterfall (click
here to find out more). We did the same for a possible splashdown of
Huygens (click
here to find out more).
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Waterfalls and
methane-falls |
Splashdown (you will hear
the initial splash, followed by gurgling as air-pockets in the frame
fill with water, followed by a number of structural 'bumps', followed at
the end by the gentle hiss of small bubbles. |
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Earth waterfall (real)
Titan methane-fall (simulated)
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Dropping fake space probe into water (real):
Splashdown on Titan (simulated):
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After the initial
study obtained preliminary spectra, the method was refined, as detailed
in the references below:
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Initial study: |
Leighton,
T.G. From seas
to surgeries, from babbling brooks to baby scans: The acoustics of gas
bubbles in liquids, Invited Review Article for International Journal
of Modern Physics B, 18(25), 2004, 3267-314
Leighton, T.G. and White, P.R.
The Sound of Titan: A role
for acoustics in space exploration, Acoustics Bulletin, 29, 2004,
16-23
Leighton, T.G., White, P.R. and Finfer, D.C.
Possible applications of bubble
acoustics in nature (Opening Invited Paper), Proceedings of the 28th
Scandinavian Symposium on Physical Acoustics, Ustaoset, Norway, 23-26
January 2005, CDROM, 2005
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Follow-up study: |
Leighton, T.G., White, P.R. and Finfer, D.C.
The
sounds of seas in space (Invited Paper), Proceedings of the
International Conference on Underwater Acoustic Measurements,
Technologies and Results, Heraklion, Crete, 28 June-1 July 2005, II,
2005, 833-40 |
Europa |
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Europa, moon
of Jupiter, is thought to contain a deep ocean beneath a thick covering
of ice. In recent years several papers have suggested that acoustics may
be used to explore this world: |
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Kovach, R. L., Chyba, C. F., 2001.
Seismic Detectability of a Subsurface Ocean on Europa, Icarus 150,
279–287.
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Lee, S., Zanolin, M., Thode, A. M.,
Pappalardo, R. T., Makris, N. C., 2003. Probing Europa’s interior with
natural sound sources, Icarus 165, 144–167.
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Our own study looked at propagation through the ocean, and the
characteristics of signals that propagate right the way around the moon
under the ocean: |
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Leighton, T.G., White, P.R., Finfer, D.C. and
Grover, E.J.
The sounds of seas in
space: the ‘waterfalls’ of Titan and the ice seas of Europa,
Institute of Acoustics Spring Conference, Futures in Acoustics, Today’s
Research – Tomorrow’s Careers, Southampton, UK, 3-4 April 2006,
28(1), 2006, 75-97 |
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This page was last
updated by TG Leighton, 18 June 2007
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