A sonification never starts with “the universe”. It starts with an instrument,
units, sampling choices and a reduction pipeline. We draw a provenance chain
that distinguishes collected values from corrections, derived values and
presentation choices.
Detector counts → remove instrument bias → attach timestamps and units →
select a time window → rescale for hearing → render. Every arrow must be
documented because each can change the claim a listener is able to make.
NASA’s Exoplanet Watch analysis guide
is a useful example: raw telescope images become a light curve only after a
named reduction process.
Observation guide 02
Provenance
Use this page before the slides, then return to the checkpoint after the lab.
After this week, you can
Trace detector values through calibration, reduction and playback.
Keep observed quantities separate from derived quantities.
Record units and assumptions at every transformation.
Inspectable teaching model
detector counts
10981101109710881082108910991100
Synthetic detector counts with a constant 100-count electronic bias. Values are a teaching model, not an astronomical observation.
Worked notebook
Counts are not yet brightness
Synthetic detector counts with a constant 100-count electronic bias.
Subtract the documented 100-count bias from every sample.
Divide by the out-of-event median to obtain relative brightness.
Retain timestamps and flag any rejected frame.
Only then choose an audible range and playback interval.
What the method supportsBias subtraction changes the values but not their order. Normalisation changes the unit and makes the dip comparable. Neither operation creates audio.
CheckpointWhich transformation belongs to data reduction rather than sonification: subtracting detector bias or mapping brightness to pitch?Reveal the reasoning
Subtracting detector bias belongs to data reduction.
Bias correction estimates the measured signal before representation. Pitch mapping is a later communication choice. Mixing the two makes it impossible to tell whether a feature came from the instrument or the display.