CHIME Fast Radio Burst Data Becomes Cathedral Sound Installation
Composer Andrew Melchior and MIT physicist Kiyoshi Masui turned CHIME observations into "The Logos," an audio installation at Oulu Cathedral in Finland.
“The Logos” translates data from CHIME’s fast radio burst observations into sound. The installation has played at Oulu Cathedral since early April and is scheduled to continue through the end of 2026.
Key details
- CHIME recorded 4,539 bursts from 3,641 sources between 2018 and 2023.
- Twelve loudspeakers distributed around the cathedral present the work.
- A performance was scheduled for November 21, 2026, with 30 singers and Melchior playing the bursts live on a keyboard.
- The bursts represented in the installation range in age from about 50 million years to 8–9 billion years.
CHIME recorded 4,539 fast radio bursts between 2018 and 2023.
Why it matters
Fast radio bursts are brief signals from distant space, and the installation turns observations of them into an experience audiences can hear. The project brings astronomical data into a cathedral setting through a collaboration between a composer and a physicist.
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