How can there be no sound in space? When a comet moves, there must be some sound.?

Question

I agree, when a rock is thrown here on earth, there is no sound till it hits the ground. But there are colliding asteriods all over in space. Comets with mass tails following from behind. And the all those dishes pointing out to space must pick up something or they wouldn't get the grant money to build them. So what sounds are out there?

Answer 1

There's no air to vibrate, and vibrating air makes sound.
There is no air in SPACE.

(at least WE can't hear it by normal human means)

Answer 2

Sound is a wave, and waves require a medium. Here on earth sound travels through air. In space there is not enough air to propagate enough energy from a collision for a person to hear. Even a comets tail is super thin compared with the air we breath.

The dishes pointing out to space pick up electromagnetic signals like radio waves or light from the sun which can travel through empty space.

Even hear on earth can't be heard over a long distance. Sounds in space are next to nill.

Answer 3

The big dishes at SETI and others pick up radio waves, not sound waves.

Sound is observed by changes in pressure over time, the pressure in space is basically zero.

Radio waves behave a bit more like light in the sense that they don't rely on any other medium to travel.

Answer 4

Sound is traveling through the comet itself or an asteroid if it hits something b/c sound can travel through a solid, but you'd need to have your ear right on the asteroid to hear it.

And the dishes are picking up lower wavelengths of light (like radio waves) not sound

Answer 5

There is sound, but like they said above, there is no air for the sound to happen. So, movies like Star Wars and Star Trek are incorrect (IE, when the lasers start shooting while the camera is in space, you hear the noise). They just do that for dramatic reasons....

Answer 6

we pick up radio waves of other galaxies, stars, supernovas, and such, so yes, there are sounds in space, but they are probably on a frequency we don't pick up, so it's basically a moot point. as for smashing comets, if you're ever out there, in open space, and see them hit eachother, let the rest of us know if the soundwaves carry to you, k? We'd like to know

Answer 7

Sound, as you SHOULD KNOW, but DONT STRANGLELY, is created by vibrations in the air. The air allows the vibrations to travel. Without air, like in space, the sound stays in one place, and therefore cant travel. Therefore, no sounds.

Answer 8

i believe its not the sound that you hear everyday that they are looking for but i think its kind of radiowaves etc... because sounds that we hear in earth are made up of compressed and decompressed AIR! and there is no AIR in space

Answer 9

Because George Lucas isn't in charge of the real universe.

Answer 10

Space is a vaccum. Total nothingness. No gravity, no sound, nothing.