Can there be sound in space?

Question

I like science fiction movies involving space travel. Almost every space movie however has sound in the vacuum of space. But you need an atmosphere or air for sound. Is it possible for there to be sound in space if for example a rocket fires in space? The rocket is introducing gases into the vacuum allowing sound to travel through the medium. Is this the case? Would a spacesuited astronaut near a vector jet firing 'hear' the jet?

Also in a part of space with a lot of nebular or intersteller gas would there be some sound?

Answer 1

You are correct - no sound can be "heard" outside of an atmosphere in space. So all those "Doppler" effects you hear on Star Wars and other space movies are all BS. Explosions external to a ship wouldn't make sound either.

There IS a movie that tried to get it right - "2001 A Space Odyssey," but space travel was so "quiet and boring" that they added classical music just to keep it from being so "silent."

Answer 2

There can be no sound in space, not even in the middle of a dense nebula. The reason for this is even nebulae such the Orion Nebula are still a much better vacuum that can be created here on Earth. Without a medium to travel through, sound simply cannot travel in space. Now if you were aboard a spacecraft, you could hear the engines fire or at least here some sort of sound while they are operating. An astronaut near the engine or thruster probably would not hear it, and he would definitely avoid the exhaust from the engine because it would push him away from his spacecraft. But hearing sound in a spacecraft in reality would be nothing like Star Wars. It might be more like the sounds aboard the Discovery in 2001, A Space Odyssey, where the hum of electrical and electronic systems could be heard all around the ship.

Answer 3

I do, too, love science fiction movies involving space travel. "Star Wars" is the biggest example in this case here, because I heard spaceships, laser shots, and explosions echoing in the empty vacuum of space. As what you stated, you need an atmosphere or air for sound, so if air actually existed in space, then "Star Wars" is correct, since spaceships can hum noises in the silence of space. In space, no can hear you scream....oh wait, that's "Alien".

Of course, if there is air in space, then it's possible that a rocket could sound off if it fires in space and a space-suited astronaut near a vector jet firing hear the jet. In a part of space with a lot of nebular or interstellar gas, yes, there should be sound.

Answer 4

I believe you have it right. Sound needs something to travel through. Sound itself has no physical form but exists as the matter that moves in correlation to the energy that made the sound. When something moves it displaces the matter around it, which displaces the matter around it, and so on, creating a wave of movement that our ears can pick up as sound.

So could an astronaut outside the ship hear the rocket? Only if there was a direct link between him and the origin of the sound. If his suit could somehow get him close enough to the exhaust w/o killing him then the sound would go through the exhaust to his helmet and, assuming that our hypothetical astronaut doesn't have a sound proof helmet, he would be able to hear the sound.

So basically I think the person who asked the question had it right, no sound can travel through space because there’s nothing for it to travel to, but with the introduction of matter there could be a sound.

Answer 5

Sound waves travels within the air molecules. Since, Universe is Vacuum, there is no air, so no sound. Even Pin drop to Huge explosion. You can't hear it. You can't even create a fire on space because on Oxygen. How do space vehicles goes boom and destroyed by fire? Take a balloon and fill it till it goes boom. No fire but still the balloon goes boom. This is the only chance for the destruction in space. In space, if the pressure of gas inside a shuttle like Oxygen goes beyond the level, it goes boom. That boom creates gas, just like on Earth. And the sound travels through that gas. You can hear it if you're near the gas. Astronauts talk to others using Radio Waves, like Mobile Phone. And of course, it creates sounds when asteroids or comets hit something. But, you can't hear it.. Got an idea how to hear sounds in vacuum? Then you got Noble Prize.

Answer 6

Well, *technically* - YES, there can be sound.

however... sound travels in a compression wave. When I snap my fingers, the sound bumps into air molecules right next to each other, which bump into their neighbors, etc, etc, etc - until it finally reaches your ears, where the sound waves are 'delivered' by bumping into your ear drums.

Now, as you get higher - the air gets a little thinner. And, the molecules carrying the sound have to travel a little further before they find other molecules to bump into. This takes a longer time (that's why the speed of sound at sea level is *faster* than the speed of sound on, say, Mt. Everest.)

In space, the distance between molecules is enormous. That doesn't mean that they can't carry *sound*. But the speed of sound, with hydrogen molecules so far apart, is now too slow to hear, and the number of molecules propogating the sound is so small, that sound *almost* doesn't exist in space.

Answer 7

As sound need a medium to travel, it is impossible for anyone to hear anything in space. Astronaut can hear each other though banging their helmet together or though their comm set. A possible theory is that if they are on a solid ground, it might be possible for them to hear sound as sound travel thought ground. Also on theory it is possible to hear if there are nebular or interstellar gas but it has never been proven.

Answer 8

The sound is a vibration in the air.
So u cant hear any sound in space not even if u could have a CD player.
Thats why astronauts talk through some mycrofones.

Answer 9

In space, there are no molecules to vibrate, therefore there is no sound. There is also no such thing as "dog fights" in space, at least in the traditional sense of the phrase. Since there is no air, there's no air pressure for the supposed wings to manipulate. They would have to use auxiliary thrusters.

Answer 10

sound does need a medium to travel. So inside a space ship where they have air, sound can travel like normal, but outside where there is a vaccum, sound would not travel.

There are many many more things you can find wrong in sci-fi movines if you know your physics.