Hard Impact, Silent but deadly????

[Tim]

I know I should be embarrassed, but I dont even know what this crater is called, is it Copernicus?

Anyways, the question that just popped into mind was, do these impacts even make a sound in space, and if so, could it be heard in the conditions, and how far would the sound travel on the moon, if at all? I bet somebody knows.

Taken with Canon 400D, poor visibility, clouds and wind, you know, all the usual conditions we get. 17th March 2008, through 25mm EP.

Cheers

TJ

[Naz]

"In space no one can hear you scream"

It is vacuum, so technically silent.

naz

[barkis]

It may be silent as far as far as hearing anything goes, bit if a pebble of the size that gouged out Copernicus were to hit the moon these days,

I would think the resultant tremor would wreck any seismic instrument left on the moon by the Apollo astronauts.

Ron.

[thing]

I reckon you would hear it if you were actually standing on the moon. Just because there's no atmosphere to propagate the energy released by the impact it doesn't mean that vibrations wouldn't be felt and heard through the ground. It is Copernicus by the way as you guessed (and Barkis said.)

[Naz]

I think you would feel it and not hear it.

naz

[Astroman]

You would feel it but not hear it, as hearing is based on the movement of air on your eardrums. Your cochlea, or inner ear channels which determine your balance, would be disturbed by the vibration and you'd detect those vibrations.

[zcapp96]

Sound needs a medium to propagate in, doesn't have to be air. Could the 'sound' be heard in the dust cloud the impact kicks up?

[jgs001]

Nice shot TJ. I reckon you would feel it, but the ground shock vibrations would be conducted through your skeleton (bone conduction) to the ears and that would cause you to "hear" the impact (Your ears would indicate you heard sound).

[philsail1]

Awsome shot, for an awsome crater T.J.!

The size of your photo really does do justice to this big crater.

Let's have some more like that!!

Regards,

philsail1

[Swamp Gas ?]

If you where standing on the moon I'm sure that as it hit the shock waves that would travel through the moon would travel through your skeleton ( as suggested) and into the ear causing the bones in your ear and the air in the ear drums to vibrate giving an "illusion" of sound ( after all - all we really "hear" on earth is our human "interpretation" of "sound" - we miss so much of the signal compared to other animals.

If you could "hear" it it would probably be the last sound you heard.

Nice Pic btw