Turning Solar Systems into Sound

Are you on the hunt for the ultimate sequencer? Have you thought about using the solar system to trigger your next lead melody? Here's a video using data from the NASA Exoplanet Archive, turning 30 planetary systems discovered by NASA's Kepler and TESS space telescopes into musical sequences. A neat idea with all the data explained below... 

What does a real solar system sound like? I turned 30 planetary systems discovered by NASA's Kepler and TESS space telescopes into music. Every planet plays a note each time it completes an orbit, so the rhythm you hear is each system's real orbital timing. Some systems are locked in orbital resonance and fall into steady, repeating rhythms (listen for Kepler-223, HD 110067 and TRAPPIST-1). Others never repeat. We go from 3 planets to 8, end with our own Solar System, then play all 30 at once. No talking, no sudden sounds, just calm space ambience: put it on to relax, study, focus or fall asleep.

CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro: what a real solar system sounds like 0:18 3-planet systems 1:56 4-planet systems 3:33 5-planet systems 5:06 6-planet systems 6:47 7 planets: TRAPPIST-1 7:08 8 planets: Kepler-90 7:30 Our Solar System 7:54 All 30 solar systems at once

HOW IT WORKS

Rhythm: one note = one real orbit. Time is sped up (the "1 second = X days" counter shows by how much), but the timing between planets is exact.

Pitch: faster planets play higher notes. Each system's notes follow its real orbital period ratios, tuned to the nearest note of a pentatonic scale so every system sounds harmonious.

"3:2" means two neighboring planets orbit in almost exactly a 3-to-2 ratio, a sign of orbital resonance. "IN RHYTHM" means every neighboring pair does.

Orbit sizes follow Kepler's third law (compressed for very wide systems so everything fits on screen).

SYSTEMS IN THIS VIDEO

3 planets: YZ Ceti, Gliese 581, Kepler-9, Gliese 357, Kepler-47, TOI-270, K2-381, Kepler-60 4 planets: TOI-700, Kepler-37, Kepler-51, V1298 Tau, Kepler-138, Kepler-176, Kepler-223 5 planets: L 98-59, Kepler-62, Kepler-102, K2-384, HD 158259, Kepler-444 6 planets: Kepler-11, K2-138, Kepler-80, TOI-178, TOI-1136, HD 110067 7 planets: TRAPPIST-1 8 planets: Kepler-90, our Solar System DATA Planet data from the NASA Exoplanet Archive (Planetary Systems Composite Parameters table), retrieved September 2026. Fun facts from the published discovery papers.

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