COSMIC CYCLESA Space Symphony

"Cosmic Cycles: A Space Symphony" is a groundbreaking collaboration between acclaimed composer Henry Dehlinger, NASA, and the National Philharmonic, featuring a unique fusion of music and video in seven multimedia works on the Sun, Earth, Moon, Planets, and Cosmos. This transformative project takes the audience on a captivating voyage through the universe, showcasing the beauty and power of the marriage between music and science.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterMusic credit: “Earth, Our Home" from Cosmic Cycles: A Space Symphony by Henry Dehlinger. Courtesy of the composer.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. ||

The complete Cosmic Cycles symphony. All seven movements paired with music composed by Henry Dehlinger and generated electronically.p> || Cosmic Cycles: A Space Symphony" is a groundbreaking collaboration between acclaimed composer Henry Dehlinger, NASA, and the National Philharmonic, featuring a unique fusion of music and video in seven multimedia works on the Sun, Earth, Moon, Planets, and Cosmos. This transformative project takes the audience on a captivating voyage through the universe, showcasing the beauty and power of the marriage between music and science. ||

This video includes music from a synthesized orchestra provided by composer Henry Dehlinger.Music credit: "The Sun" from Cosmic Cycles: A Space Symphony by Henry Dehlinger. Courtesy of the composer.Complete list of footage used HERE.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. || Born from a swirling cloud of dust and gas some 4.6 billion years ago, our Sun seethes and boils like a living thing. It is the very center of our solar system, and large enough to encompass 1.3 million Earths. Explosions flash on its surface in colors of light beyond human vision and enormous loops of plasma stretch into space. The Sun’s influence extends out beyond the planets, creating a protective cocoon within the galaxy.To learn more, visit science.nasa.gov/heliophysicsFind many of the visuals used in this piece HERE ||

Born from a swirling cloud of dust and gas some 4.6 billion years ago, our Sun seethes and boils like a living thing. It is the very center of our solar system, and large enough to encompass 1.3 million Earths. Explosions flash on its surface in colors of light beyond human vision and enormous loops of plasma stretch into space. The Sun’s influence extends out beyond the planets, creating a protective cocoon within the galaxy. Want to know more? SDO Gallery SDO website NASA Heliophysics Home Page

This video includes music from a synthesized orchestra provided by composer Henry Dehlinger.Music credit: “Earth, Our Home" from Cosmic Cycles: A Space Symphony by Henry Dehlinger. Courtesy of the composer.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. || Join us for a tour of Earth, as NASA sees it from space.. From photographs captured onboard the International Space Station, to stunning visualizations rendered from satellite data, we have a unique view of our home planet – a place perfect for life, billions of years in the making. From hundreds of miles up, we can see a hurricane gaining momentum over the Atlantic Ocean or generations of seabirds migrating to warmer climates. The data you're about to see represents decades of tireless work by thousands of scientists and engineers across NASA. And it continues -- there is still so much to learn about our home world, with NASA at the forefront of many amazing discoveries from our vantage point in space. This piece is divided into five chapters that represent the many facets of our planet. The composition begins with An Awakened Earth, in which views of the dark side of Earth reveal city lights that continue to burn brightly through the night. At dawn, the International Space Station captures footage of a bright, cloud-covered ocean. Our world is alive and perpetually changing. A Violent Earth embodies this dynamic planet, characterized by giant dust storms, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, and fire. When given the opportunity, Earth provides balance -- as seen in A Giving Earth. Rain, food, animal migration, global forests and ocean currents are inextricably linked to the mercurial power of the planet. Despite the resiliency of this wonderous world, it is still A Fragile Earth. For more than 60 years, NASA has documented the effects of climate change from space. Melting ice sheets and rising global temperatures are two of many dangerous trends tied to growing greenhouse gas emissions in our atmosphere. There is much reason for concern over the health of our world. Yet despite the challenges we face, a planet as rich and beautiful as ours is worth every effort to protect it. A Spectacular Earth dives underneath the ocean's surface, emerging to reveal the fleet of Earth-observing satellites that provided the data and images you see in this movement. This piece concludes with several magnificent photographs taken by astronauts living and working on the ISS, followed by footage of nightfall over the ISS and a return to the dark side of Earth.To learn more, visit science.nasa.gov/earth-scienceFind many of the visuals used in this piece HERE ||

Our home and the only planet we know of to possess life. In the years since we first managed to leave its atmosphere, our understanding of it has grown exponentially. NASA now observes and measures Earth with an unmatched fleet of spacecraft. Our influence on this incredibly complex and ever-changing sphere is both obvious and insignificant.

This video includes music from a synthesized orchestra provided by composer Henry Dehlinger.Music credit: “The “Earth as Art" from Cosmic Cycles: A Space Symphony by Henry Dehlinger. Courtesy of the composer.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. || Starting in 1972, nine Landsat satellites have orbited Earth, taking images of the surface. This unprecedented coverage has been tremendously useful to the scientific community, but it has also produced thousands of beautiful high-resolution images of the complex patterns of our world. From the fractal patterns of mountain ranges and river deltas to the precise geometry of agriculture, Landsat has rendered Earth as a work of art.To learn more, visit landsat.gsfc.nasa.govFind many of the visuals used in this piece HERE ||

Starting in 1972, nine Landsat satellites have orbited Earth, taking images of the surface. This unprecedented coverage has been tremendously useful to the scientific community, but it has also produced thousands of beautiful high-resolution images of the complex patterns of our world. From the fractal patterns of mountain ranges and river deltas to the precise geometry of agriculture, Landsat has rendered Earth as a work of art.

This video includes music from a synthesized orchestra provided by composer Henry Dehlinger.Music credit: “The Moon - Our Desolate Companion" from Cosmic Cycles: A Space Symphony by Henry Dehlinger. Courtesy of the composer.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. || The Moon is on full display in this section of Cosmic Cycles. The lonely and bleak landscape, covered by creeping shadows, is full of mystery and wonder. At the same time, there is beauty in the rocky gray terrain, and the crowning achievment of being the only other celestial body in our solar system that humans have step foot on. In this video you will see visualizations of the terrain, created from data obtained by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, high resolution images of fascinating craters taken by its camera system, and archival footage from the Apollo 17 mission.To learn more, visit moon.nasa.gov Find many of the visuals used in this piece HERE ||

Our constant companion in space, the Moon is the only celestial object that humanity has visited in person. Although by eye the Moon’s surface looks flat and unchanging, recent measurements have shown it to be a rugged and dynamic environment. The most familiar object in the night sky, the Moon is our stepping stone to the rest of the cosmos. Want to know more? Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Gallery NASA Moon

This video includes music from a synthesized orchestra provided by composer Henry Dehlinger.Music credit: “Planetary Fantasia" from Cosmic Cycles: A Space Symphony by Henry Dehlinger. Courtesy of the composer.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. || Earth’s siblings, the other planets were created at the birth of the solar system. They give us a glimpse of the variety possible in the universe and how rare Earth is. As we explore these other worlds, we fuel our adventurous spirit and discover new wonders at every turn: riverbeds on Mars, volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io, auroras on Saturn, and sulfuric-acid clouds on Venus.To learn more, visit solarsystem.nasa.govFind many of the visuals used in this piece HERE ||

Earth’s siblings, the other planets were created at the birth of the solar system. They give us a glimpse of the variety possible in the universe and how rare Earth is. As we explore these other worlds, we fuel our adventurous spirit and discover new wonders at every turn: riverbeds on Mars, volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io, auroras on Saturn, and sulfuric-acid clouds on Venus.

This video includes music from a synthesized orchestra provided by composer Henry Dehlinger.Music credit: “Travelers" from Cosmic Cycles: A Space Symphony by Henry Dehlinger. Courtesy of the composer.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. || Nomads of the solar system, small objects like asteroids and comets wander among the planets. Messengers from the distant past, many of these small bodies include debris from the formation of the solar system and carry clues about its origins and the rise of life on Earth. NASA has visited some of them, recently reaching and then touching the asteroid Bennu to collect samples of rock unchanged for nearly 5 billion years.To learn more, visit solarsystem.nasa.govFind many of the visuals used in this piece HERE ||

Nomads of the solar system, small objects like asteroids and comets wander among the planets. Messengers from the distant past, many of these small bodies include debris from the formation of the solar system and carry clues about its origins and the rise of life on Earth. NASA has visited some of them, recently reaching and then touching the asteroid Bennu to collect samples of rock unchanged for nearly 5 billion years.

This video includes music from a synthesized orchestra provided by composer Henry Dehlinger.Music credit: “Echoes of the Big Bang" from Cosmic Cycles: A Space Symphony by Henry Dehlinger. Courtesy of the composer.Complete list of footage usedHERE. Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. || NASA studies the makeup and workings of the universe, from the smallest particles of matter and energy to its large-scale structure and evolution. Scientists look far back in space and time to learn the full cosmic history of stars and galaxies. They tease out details of the environments around black holes and observe the most powerful explosions since the big bang. NASA is discovering numerous planets beyond our solar system, decoding how planetary systems form, and learning how environments hospitable for life develop.To learn more, visit universe.nasa.govFind many of the visuals used in this piece HERE ||

NASA studies the makeup and workings of the universe, from the smallest particles of matter and energy to its large-scale structure and evolution. Scientists look far back in space and time to learn the full cosmic history of stars and galaxies. They tease out details of the environments around black holes and observe the most powerful explosions since the big bang. NASA is discovering numerous planets beyond our solar system, decoding how planetary systems form, and learning how environments hospitable for life develop. Want to know more? NASA Universe Webb Space Telescope images Hubble Space Telescope