"The Burgeoning Role of Sonification in Astrophysics"

The inherently visual nature of astronomical research provides a wealth of material for both pedagogy and public outreach. By communicating novel findings exclusively through this medium, however, we miss out on a valuable opportunity to engage a diverse audience across multiple axes of instruction. In this talk, I will discuss the growing role that sonification (representing data aurally) plays in astrophysics. I will introduce several pioneering sound-based astronomy efforts and use these to motivate astro[sound]bites, a graduate-student-led astronomy podcast that regularly uses sonification. Now in its fourth year, astro[sound]bites has published over 81 episodes across multiple platforms, totaling 21,000+ downloads from 70 different countries. I will discuss the evolution of astro[sound]bites from its inception, highlight some lessons learned, and end with a demonstration of how you can sonify your own data.