Did anyone else hear that meteor?

[gooseholla]

Hi,

I was looking out last night just near Orion in the area of Eridanus and at about 10:50pm a great streak appeared for a second or so at about the same level as Orion's belt heading down towards Rigel. It announced itself by a crackling and a hiss.

I thought it a firework when I saw it but after several more meteors appeared in exactly the same area exhibiting the exact same look to them, bright white flash appearing from nowhere and streaking a short distance, the more I thought about it the first one couldn't have been a firework. There was no explosion before the crackling sound you usually get. It didn't come up from the ground hissing it was moving downwards and finally, there were no fireworks in this direction before or after.

So did anyone else hear this hissing meteor?

John

 

[RichM63]

I didn't catch that one, but I'm convinced that I have heard the hissing woosh when watching meteors. It's quite a thrill.

Rich

[Helite]

I did not hear or see the one last night but I was up late a few nights ago letting the dogs out to do their business before heading to bed and as usual I took a look up as it was nice and clear. Seen a fantastic blue/green streak and heard a slight "sizzle" as it shot overhead.

[laudropb]

It seems there were a few bright Meteors last night. Did not see any myself. Raining here all night, but in the past I have heard a sort of swishing sound when bright meteors have passed over head.

[The Admiral]

Whenever I've seen meteors they've always been silent, and I've taken the view, wrongly it seems, that they are silent. But when you see a streak you almost expect it to be accompanied by noise. I should think it is a thrill to hear one - one day maybe!

Ian

[lukebl]

I would have thought that it would be impossible to hear a meteor for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, meteors are usually around 40-50 miles up when they burn up. At the usual speed of sound, it would take 3 or 4 minutes for the sound to reach you so any sound wouldn't be simultaneous with the visual appearance.

Secondly, it would have to be pretty damn loud to travel that distance, and at that altitude the air is so thin that it is unlikely that there would be much sound generated at all anyway.

Obviously, if it was a bolide, like the Chelyabinsk meteorite (of which I have a fragment!) then it would be much bigger, much closer and much louder.
 

[gooseholla]

Phew, seems in my ill delirious state I am not imagining things! It was quite a thrill and yes, after viewing a silent universe for nights at a time, it was nice for astronomy to engage a different sense! It truly added to the experience and I wish all meteors did it.

John

[Droogie 2001]

Oddly I was looking at Orion though a pair of Binoculars at that time. I glance out of the bins and saw the meteor you mentioned. I thought that was a stoke of luck and it looked great passing through Orions belt, I didn't however hear any noise though.

[gooseholla]

I have tried to think of anything else that could have produced a sound like that and cannot think of any. A firework has been ruled out and a hissing sound from another source at the same time of a streak lasting roughly the same time as the streak? That has to be some pretty amazing odds!

John

 

[Droogie 2001]

Perhaps there was a noise, I was standing by my open patio door so not technically outside. I find that the wind plays an enormous part on where and how sounds travel.

There is a railway and motorway about a mile or two from my house. Some days I can hear the noise from them and other days they are silent.

All I can add is this persistent cloud in the SE of the UK is depressing me! It does not look any better for the next week or two. I enjoy imaging so two objects are in a great position from my back garden at the moment. Both of which I am desperate to image, M45 & M42.
As the month goes on they will start to go behind my neighbours house so I need it be clear at least for a night or two (ideally when I am not having to go out!)

Last night was reasonably clear from 11pm but with work today I was not keen to start setting up at this time...

 

[The Admiral]

Hi,

I was looking out last night just near Orion in the area of Eridanus and at about 10:50pm a great streak appeared for a second or so at about the same level as Orion's belt heading down towards Rigel. It announced itself by a crackling and a hiss.

You don't say whether the sound was coincident with the streak or some seconds afterwards. As Luke says, it's hard to see that it can come from the meteor if it's near coincident. Not unless the grit penetrated the atmosphere to low level, near you!, Then I would have thought it would be a lot louder. Can you categorically rule out it being a firework? It is, after all, not the best time of year for listening out for sizzling noises . I'd like to believe it was possible though.

Ian

[gooseholla]

Yes I think I can categorically rule out a firework. It never flashed up or streaked upwards as a rocket does, it just appeared and disappeared like a meteor shooting downwards at an angle, across Orion's belt and disappearing near Rigel.

There was no whooshing sound or bang associated with the kind of fireworks that make the crackling and hissing noise. Those that crackle and hiss usually do so when exploding and sending bits out into a wider area - there was none of that. The crackling and hiss was not like any firework I've heard before. There was no characteristic sound that tells you a rocket has just been launched close by. It lasted for less than a second I'd say. The crackling was quite loud followed by a hiss filtering out to nothing, a hiss like when you throw something into a hot frying pan for the first time.

The two were not simultaneous - that is the sound and visual streak - but close together. There were no fireworks in the area before or after, and it was quite late on a Sunday night. The fact it was in the location of the Taurids and there were a few others in that area as well behaving in the same manor albeit minus the sound.  

We have another witness that says at that time in the same area a meteor was on show, someone who is not close to this location. Also my dad recalls a story from observing meteors in Norfolk when he was younger of the exact same phenomenon and it being a bit of a meteor that was later found close by by some people.

I too thought it was a firework but waiting for the resultant bang or flash of colour after seeing it and seeing nothing also the path it took, its sudden appearance from up high streaking diagonally and then disappearing, after brightening a bit like a meteor, near Rigel. The fact someone else saw it miles away in the same area at the same time... I cannot in all fairness to fireworks say it was a firework

John

[Vega]

Even with the Chelyabinsk meteor which reached much further down in to the atmosphere than normal, there was a good two minute delay from the visual explosion to the shockwave blast. It was between 9-12 miles above the ground when it disintegrated. The speed of sound (761mph) may seem fast but compared to the speed of light? You probably get the idea.   

[Calculon]

Is it not possible there was a coincident firework off in a different direction? I've heard plenty this year that make the noise you're describing, and as others have reasoned it would be extremely surprising to have actually heard a meteor.

[gooseholla]

Well scouring the net, such phenomena have been heard before for many centuries, with NASA having to explain it and also being controlled sound recordings both confirming meteoroids can make hissing and crackling sounds near instantaneous with the visual.... I'm definitely not going to rule it out as an effect from a meteor.

John

[steppenwolf]

Meteors are not my field of speciality but the first meteor that my wife saw was by coincidence with me and this one made an amazing whooshing sound and whistle! I have never before or since experienced such an event and trust me, it was no firework, bicycle, car tyre or burping goldfish ;-)

Sent from my iPhone from somewhere dark .....

[gooseholla]

There is an explanation for it, it isn't the meteor making the noise directly but the affects it has on the atmosphere. I'll leave those who want to find out about the research to look it up. The rest can believe despite the evidence that it was a firework and that a meteor cannot make a sound. I hope they hear it one day - it was a lovely sound and added to the event.

John

[Calculon]

Now this is interesting, and could certainly explain things!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrophonic_hearing#Meteors

The second citation is attributed to NASA, for those who are immediately cynical of Wiki links

edit: Didn't see GH's most recent reply before adding this post. I believe this is the indirect sound effect he is referring to.

[The Admiral]

I'm open minded about it, and that link provides what appears to be a valid explanation. Love to hear it myself!

Worth reading the NASA link. Will have to start hanging sheets of kitchen foil on the washing line!

[Calculon]

Worth reading the NASA link. Will have to start hanging sheets of kitchen foil on the washing line!

On the one hand it's not a completely terrible idea, on the other hand it's a surefire way to make the neighbours think you're a total loon!

[gooseholla]

There is also a link to an old BBC article in that wiki article from 1999 where some sceptical scientists went out to test it and proved that the accounts from the centuries were indeed real and recorded it in controlled conditions in the middle of nowhere.

John

[Alien 13]

I have certainly heard this effect with electrical storms a fizzing noise coincident with the flash seconds before the bang arrives.

Alan

[The Admiral]

On the one hand it's not a completely terrible idea, on the other hand it's a surefire way to make the neighbours think you're a total loon!

You're assuming of course that they don't already think that ;=) Standing outside in the cold looking through a tube, can it be more weird?

PS Well if I'm wearing no clothes I suppose! But I do.

[gooseholla]

When I get my 18" scope out no one bats an eyelid, sit out the front in a seat with a pair of binoculars or a 4" scope and the whole street slows down to have a good look... 

[Nike]

Hi, Yes i agree it is possible to hear, if you google there are plenty scientific reasons of what you heard, back in August [no fireworks!!]i was out watching the perseid shower in my garden around midnight very very still and calm evening, twice i heard  a distant `crackle` like a dying firework fizzing out as both had gone straight over my head [1 hour apart], very bright looked like a `garlic bulb` very short and sharp but very distinctive.............i was puzzled until i googled...............so well done think it is quite rare to hear............i was only going outside for 1/2 hour but ended up 3 hrs it does really grip you.