The reality is that this method has been our proper guide to the universe. The night is our friend and companion to the universe. Darkness is everywhere as we follow the light. Our eyesight tries to find the light because the light is what gives us warmth. Light allows us to survive, and light is what will enable us to find other things that can benefit us as the human race.
There is one problem with this simple operating system for humankind. The universe itself is vastly enormous. Entire spans of nothingness permeate the spectrum. Space is so utterly massive that there are seemingly little out there. Nearest stars take thousands to hundreds of thousands of years of travel on conventional drives to reach. What is filled in between?.....
Space itself is the lack of the things that humanity needs the most.....heat, food, water, air, just to name a few. The primary things required for survival, space lacks. It could be defined as a miracle that humanity had found the things needed to live beyond Earth, and yet it has.
Perhaps that miracle could be defined as humankind has discovered the ability to fold space. Those distant glowing orbs that we call stars are suddenly within reach. As we follow the light through the long distances of darkness, we find new worlds to call home. The dark and the light once again work in harmony as we find unique places to expand and allow the human race to survive.
There is still a cost to this system, though. The system that allows us to see by tracking light is not always the perfect human survival concept. We travel through the solar system away from Earth. We fly through space as we leave the confines of this world we are most comfortable with. Its fate has been long defined in past stories. We must find new homes if we are to survive.
It is lonely out in space. The lack of light and heat causes the temperatures to reach its lowest temperatures. It is a vacuum in which no ordinary human being can survive. Sol's radiation can be lethal if the lack of air and temperatures don't get to you first. These contributing factors have made it difficult for humanity and its desire to explore the black depths of nothingness.
It is no wonder that the darkness is often the method in which those often get scared of. To leave Earth can be death. To leave the area of light at night can warrant demise. The night and darkness are typically the largest sources of horror in most stories to invoke terror in human beings' hearts.
It is true, and it is not true that the lack of light is the be-all means of our survival. The lack of light does not mean a real sense of nothingness and death. The universe is very much alive. Just because we can't see it doesn't mean that it isn't there. We, instead, must rely on our other senses. If our eyesight fails us, we must adapt and use different methods to track it.
One such method is sound. Indeed, the sound doesn't really exist in space. Lack of air pressure prevents sound waves from being formed, and as a result, we can't hear what the universe makes. There are methods, however, to being able to listen to the sounds, though. One such way is what the objects in space create, and that is electromagnetic radiation. The recordings are changed so that we can hear it, and suddenly the environment of the universe is altered.
We suddenly realize that the universe is very much alive. It speaks in multiple ways and different concepts. The vastness of darkness echoes that of chittering, static, harmonic tones, pulses, and ambiance. To some, it is beautiful. To some, it is nothing but ambient nothingness. To others, it is horrifying.
Fear is the end and beginning. It is designed to encourage us to stay away from something. Fear has allowed us to survive against the hardships of our environment. It is both limiting and inviting to us as a method to beat. To win against fear is victory. To lose against fear can also be a victory. The complexity of one single emotion is one that can fill volumes of books. The human race both enjoys and stays away from things that invite the concept of fear.
What are the sounds of space that can inspire fear? This question alone is one that can be difficult to answer. Everyone has different tastes in what causes and invokes this emotion. To some, certain spatial phenomena' sounds can invoke terror, but to others, it is a mere annoyance. Perhaps the question is more attuned to what are the more unsettling sounds heard in space?
Again, there is no perfect answer to this question. In the Sol system alone, the more uncomfortable sounds can be measured by society's general opinion. We leave Earth behind once again. The ball of gray and orange is but a mere tool in the tour of the cosmos. Its fate has been long determined. It becomes a dot as it zips away from our sight. We fly past the seemingly nonexistent asteroid belt that lies between Mars and Jupiter. We travel through the darkness of space as a familiar planet comes into view. The ringed gas giant is one that we are all familiar with and heard before.
Saturn's sounds recorded from probes that flew by the second largest planet of the solar system are often well renowned. The gas giant's sounds are often looked at as a scream. The electromagnetic waves, combined with the enormous rings, often create a screeching sound that rises slowly up and down. If Sol had the power and were annoyed by such a world, it would have rid it by now. The most beautiful planet by some is the more fear invoking and uncomfortable sound to listen to when it comes to worlds alone.
That being said, Saturn is not the end-all of unsettling sound-producing objects in the Sol System alone. Every celestial object and the star itself produces some unique noise that is often recorded and played back. Saturn is a place that consists of many moons. We back away from Saturn as we tour through the many objects that orbit it. The moon of Enceladus is one that can be unnerving to listen to. The distant sounds of air being pushed around, even on a place that seemingly has none, is one that grabs much attention. Enceladus is pretty to look at. Its white covered surface with light blue veins is indicative of frozen water that is continually molded and crushed under the gravitational tidal heating of the massive gas giant. The moon is a treasure trove for life as it is slowly being bled off into space. It is believed that the great moon will eventually be no more in one to two million years as the incredible geysers will ultimately run down and shut off.
But, we have been to these two places before. We already know of its sounds and music as we leave Enceladus once again. Instead, we turn our attention to another moon. Measuring at almost 400 kilometers in diameter, it is so small that it barely fits within Saturn's top seven largest moons. It is the smallest moon in the known solar system that is spherical. One side consists of an enormous crater as we see its surface marked with multiple meteor impacts.
The name of the moon is Mimas. Perhaps this object produces the most unsettling of sounds when it comes to the moons of the solar system. The sound is distant, like a slow wind. It then starts to produce a low hum that slowly gets higher in tone. As it rises in volume, it begins to form a scream-like sound. It pierces the ears like spears and needles. The wind-like sound has become almost like that of an electronic screech that rises in and out. If one listens thoroughly, it almost sounds like the moon is calling out to you in terror. Voices can perhaps be heard from it as the listener desires to turn it off.
Surprisingly, this is attributed to the fact of its shape and magnetic field. Out of the many solar system objects, Mimas has one of the weakest and is continuously torn around by Saturn. Like a child being abused by its parent, Mimas has no choice but to follow its planet. Its massive crater named the Herschel crater is the single defining landmark that often reminds other readers and observers of other familiar science-fiction literature.
Instead, we must leave Saturn once again. We have been here before, and we know where the story goes. We say goodbye to the ringed world as it remains in forever orbit of Sol. Even when the star becomes a red giant, Saturn will remain. The forgotten destroyed worlds of Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars will be gone, and the outer planets will be its only children. Sol is a life-giver, but it is also a cannibalistic parent.
