Supernova Sonata . ... California, Santa Barbara / LCOGT ) Explanation: To create a sonata from supernovae, first you have to find the supernovae . ... Then, they gave each supernova a note to play, the volume of the note determined by the distance to the supernova. Fainter, more distant supernovae play quieter notes. Each note's pitch was based on a stretch factor measured by how fast the supernova brightens and fades over time relative to an adopted standard time history. ...