Scientists from the European Space Agency have recorded the ‘singing’ of Earth’s magnetic field and it sounds pretty far out.

The ‘song’ is produced during a solar storm as electrically-charged particles from the Sun’s surface smash into the planet.

ESA analysed magnetic waves produced as this ‘solar wind’ hits Earth and turned the results into audible frequencies to produce an ‘uncanny song that might recall more the sound effects of a science fiction movie than a natural phenomenon’.

To listen to the psychedelic sound of Earth’s magnetic field, researchers sent a group of four spacecraft through its ‘foreshock’ – the first region the sun’s particles encounter as they travel towards Earth.

‘Our study reveals that solar storms profoundly modify the foreshock region,’ Lucile Turc, a former ESA research fellow who is now based at the University of Helsinki, Finland.

In quiet moments when there is no solar storm buffeting the Earth, the song is lower in pitch and less complex, with one single note dominating.

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But when a solar storm hits, the frequency of the wave is roughly doubled, which means it’s higher in pitch.

The precise frequency of the resulting waves is dependent on the strength of the magnetic field involved in the storm.

‘It’s like the storm is changing the tuning of the foreshock,’ Lucile added.

You can listen to the ‘music’ in the video above.

ESA wrote: ‘The magnetic waves were measured by ESA’s Cluster mission in the magnetic foreshock above Earth – the first region of our planet’s magnetic environment that solar wind particles encounter – during calm space weather conditions.

‘The video contains a ‘sonification’ of the magnetic waves in the undisturbed foreshock, obtained by transforming the frequencies of these magnetic waves into audible signals. In the undisturbed foreshock, the sounds are very low pitched and monotonous.’