A few months ago at around 2 AM it was dead silent outside and I saw an amazing, long, streaking shooting star then it exploded and a few seconds later there was a really strange POP sound. Was it that star?
2006-08-25 07:19:44 · 10 answers · asked by could_B_N_E_1 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
As I understand your question, most likely what you saw was a bolide. A bolide is basically a meteor that explodes in the sky. This explosion is primarily the result of being heated by air friction to the point that the rock cracks. It is supposed that in the cases of bolides, the interior of the meteor is made of a substance that expands rapidly when heated and cracks the meteor from within.
So the short answer to your question is "yes", and to add to that, consider yourself fortunate. Many people never see (much less hear) one.
2006-08-25 07:38:53 · answer #1 · answered by sparc77 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Shooting stars are not stars. They are meteors being heated up by friction as the skip across or enter our atmosphere. If one was to explode after entering the atmosphere you should hear a pop. More than likely it would be after several seconds after the flash until you hear the bang because light travels faster than sound.
FYI: if a meteor hits the Earth it is known as a meteorite.
2006-08-25 14:38:10 · answer #2 · answered by Tim C 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you can see a shooting star it is by definition, entering the earths atmosphere, so if it was big enough it would make a sound, after all a big "shooting star" that crashes onto the earth is a meteorite. That one that landed in Arizona would have made rather a large "pop" I think!
2006-08-25 14:31:59 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Shooting stars aren't really stars. they are chunks of debris that burn up when they hit our atmosphere at extremely high velocities. So it might well have been what you heard, but no, it wasn't a star, and no, it wasn't in space--it was in the atmosphere. Depending on the size of the meteorite, it might get far enough through the atmosphere before disintigration to be close enough to hear. It might even make it all the way to the ground before disintigrating.
2006-08-25 14:29:09 · answer #4 · answered by Professor Beatz 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes. People have reported various sounds associated with meteors, including hissing and popping sounds. These sounds are not well understood but they are generally considered to be real by reputable scientists.
2006-08-25 14:21:54 · answer #5 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If it gets low enough into the atmosphere you can hear a pop, or bang, depending on how close it is.
2006-08-25 14:23:27 · answer #6 · answered by rscanner 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
even though you can see it, it's billions of light years away, odds are, that pop wasn't the shooting star.
2006-08-25 14:26:52 · answer #7 · answered by rushorty417 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
absolutely...ive heard one make a ripping noise before...where it landed was really close and we were out in arizona so we tried to go find it but we didnt
2006-08-25 15:45:31 · answer #8 · answered by etherialdowntime024 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ofcourse u can
http://www.cutepiggy.com/meteor.html
2006-08-25 14:29:27 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
There is no sound in outer space.
2006-08-25 14:25:22 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋