Sun Music

     WE SEE THE SUN EVERYDAY. IT PROVIDES US WITH HEAT AND LIGHT AND ITS AN
INTEGRAL PART OF OUR LIVES. YET, WE DON'T KNOW THAT MUCH ABOUT IT, AND IT'S
TOO FAR AWAY TO STUDY CLOSELY. SO SCIENTISTS RELY ON ALL SORTS OF TRICKS
AND TECHNIQUES TO UNFOLD THE SUN'S SECRETS--SOME ASTRONOMERS EVEN LISTEN
TO IT. THE SUN ACTUALLY VIBRATES LIKE A GUITAR STRING PRODUCING SOUND
WAVES. THE SOUND IS SO FAR DOWN IN THE BASS RANGE THAT WE CAN'T HEAR IT, BUT

(sfx: FAX SOUND) 

SPED UP THE SUN SOUNDS A LOT LIKE A FAX MACHINE AND ASTRONOMER TIM BROWN
SAYS THE WAY THE SOUND MOVES THROUGH THE SUN CAN TELL US ABOUT THE SUN'S
COMPOSITION. 

     Brown: "Imagine walking into a dark room and trying to decide what sort of a room you're in and.
. .you might. . . clap and listen to the echoes. . .  You can tell if you're in a cathedral or . . . a small room
fairly easily and if your ear is very well tuned you can perhaps learn more than that."
     ASTRONOMERS WATCH THE SOUND WAVES ROLL BACK AND FORTH THROUGH
THE SUN. THE WAVES CHANGE SPEED AND PITCH DEPENDING ON WHAT MATERIAL
THEY MOVE THROUGH, SO WATCHING THE WAVES CAN TELL A CAREFUL OBSERVER
HOW THICK OR THIN, OR HOT OR COLD, DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE SUN ARE. SUCH
MONITORING HAS SHOWN THAT. DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE SUN SPIN AT COMPLETELY
DIFFERENT RATES.  

     BROWN: "if you imagine painting a line on the sun from the north pole to the south pole, after a
period of time that line will no longer be straight. . . it will bow out at the equator and lag back at the
poles." 

     THE INNER CORE, HOWEVER, DOES ROTATE ALTOGETHER, SAYS BROWN, AS IF
THERE WERE A DENSE BASEBALL SITTING AT IT'S CENTER, WHICH LEADS TO EVEN
MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SUN'S MAKEUP. ASTRONOMER'S HOPE THAT LISTENING
TO THIS HEAVENLY MUSIC 

(sfx: ANGELIC CHOIR) 

WILL SOMEDAY TELL US ABOUT OTHER STARS AS WELL.