From Bepi Colombo the 'music' of the Earth's magnetic field LISTEN

The Bepi Colombo spacecraft, engaged in his long journey to Mercury, took the time to delight as a deejay and to present his latest work on social media: the 'music' of the Earth's magnetic field, recorded during the close flight of last April 10. The probe, born from the collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japanese one (Jaxa), also sent 200 Earth 'postcards', which were then mounted in a breathtaking video published on YouTube.

"Hello Earthlings! I have prepared music for you!", Reads a tweet from the Bepi Colombo mission. "I'm not sure which title is right for the song. Maybe 'The sound of the magnetic field?' Do you think it's okay? I recorded it just for you with the help of my magnetometer made by the Technical University of Braunschweig and the Graz Space Research Institute. " The responses of the followers are enthusiastic, who come to compare the spatial recording to a piece by the German composer Stockhausen.

Hello Earthlings! I made some music for you! I'm not sure about the right name for the song. Maybe 'The Sound of the Magnetic Field'? Do you think it's good? I recorded it just for you with the help of my magnetometer instrument built by @ tuBraunschweig and @IWF_oeaw pic.twitter.com/PR0i0ghW6n

The close greeting to Earth on April 10, necessary to adjust the trajectory and take the push towards Mercury, offered Bepi Colombo the opportunity to take exciting selfies with the Earth and the Moon in the background: there are over 200 images that Esa then edited in a single video.

In the first frames, taken on April 9, the Earth appears in the distance like a rotating marble approaching the probe. Subsequently, the images taken near the minimum distance from Earth (just 12,700 kilometers) show more details, such as the profile of East Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and India. Finally, the latest images taken during the removal phase, show the Earth rolling gradually larger and larger, immersed in the darkness of space. The Moon also makes a brief appearance, like a slice of light near the end of the solar panel of the probe.