The Northwestern University-led team has developed the first 3D simulations of energy rippling from a massive star’s core to its outer surface. Using these new models, the researchers determined, for the first time, how much stars should innately twinkle.

The team then converted these gas waves into sound waves, enabling listeners to hear both what the insides of stars and the “twinkling” should sound like. 

“Motions in the cores of stars launch waves like those on the ocean,” said Evan Anders, who led the study. “When the waves arrive at the star’s surface, they make it twinkle in a way that astronomers may be able to observe.

“For the first time, we have developed computer models that allow us to determine how much a star should twinkle as a result of these waves. This work allows future space telescopes to probe the central regions where stars forge the elements we depend upon to live and breathe.”

The innate twinkling...