Physics, Math, Music, And
The Solar System

High school students in Alessandria, Italy, had the idea for an interdisciplinary project that combines their study of music with their passion for physics and astronomy. Andrea Papillo and Emanuele Lupano are from "Liceo Scientifico Galilel High School," and both study music at the "Conservatory Antonio Vivaldi." They came up with an idea to introduce the cosmos to the music of the English composer, Gustav Holst, using his famous composition I Pianeti, which was composed in the early 1900's. The students were supervised by their teacher, Gabriella Righetti. Ms Righetti said that she was more than willing to have the students try out their ideas, because of their enthusiasm and dedication to the project.

I Pianeti has seven movements, and the students dedicated a movement to each of seven planets that were known at that time. (Pluto had not been discovered yet. It was discovered in 1930. And, a movement was not dedicated to planet Earth).

The students imagined placing a large symphony orchestra on the Sun, playing the Holst composition as a concert for the planets in the Solar System. Taking their physics knowledge into account, the students had to deal with the fact there are no sound waves in space because space is a vacuum. They came up with the idea  of building an enclosing structure around the entire Solar System, filling it with gas, which would allow for acoustical waves inside.

The rest of the project will be outlined by the school and teacher, Gabriella Righetti, professor of physics and mathematics at the "Galileo Galilei Scientific High School," where Andrea and Emanuele study.

It should be noted that the students' project was submitted to a contest held by ESERO called, "Teaching With Space." The contest was promoted by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the European Space Agency (ESA). The students' project was viewed by the education staff at ASI, ESA, and ESERO Italia at the Leonardo da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology, and was rated for its educational value. The students and school received an autographed certificate.

Click here to open the project:

• in Italian - "ESERO Italia: Contest "Insegnare con lo Spazio"

• in English - "How To Listen To Music In Space"      (Please note: A few things were not translated such as the student video.)