25 replies to this topic

[Yomamma]

I took the dog out at dusk for one of his daily trips and was facing north just looking at the sky to see how clear it might be last night when I hear this noise to my right(northeast) and look over to see a greenish/blue fringed, white light centered meteor streaking over my head at low altitude making the sound that the little silver sparklers make when they go off.

 

The meteor was spitting out sparks like no tomorrow and hissing loud enough for me to hear it.  It finally dissipated at about 10 in the northwest.

 

It was so close I wondered at first if it might not impact somewhere close by.

[frank5817]

Moving this post to Forum:  'General Observing and Astronomy' for abetter fit and leaving a link.

[TOMDEY]

It wasn't a meteor... undoubtedly something else close by.    Tom

[Tom Barnacle]

Could have been an electrophonic meteor producing very low frequency radio waves that could be perceived as sound at the same time as the visual observation. See Photoacoustic Sounds from Meteors, Spalding, R. et.al 2017 Scientific Reports 7, it is an Open Access article.

[Dave Mitsky]

There's information on electrophonic meteors at https://earthsky.org...rs-streak-past/ and https://ethw.org/Electrophonic_Meteors

 

[revans]

I happened to see a Perseid meteor while using my 15x70 binoculars at about midnight on August 12th.  There was no sound.  The meteor was brilliant orange and travelled from northeast to southwest throwing off vast numbers of sparks.  Of course it was only in my FOV for a fraction of a second.

 

Rick

[PKDfan]

The very first Perseid i watched (out of only four seen in an hour- on its supposed peak), was a barn burner bolide at least to -7 or -8 magnitude leaving a wide smoke trail lasting for only a moment or so and was the best i've seen in a couple decades.

That was the same evening the bright surora manifested just as I was sweeping lyra with my 12×40s EXACTLY in the center of field and was subsequently dazzled by a very vivid display with hints of pink seen through whiteish curtains.



CS

[sevenofnine]

Great story! Sometimes, what it really is remains a mystery...A long time ago. I thought I was looking at Jupiter when it dawned on me that it was too low and in the Southern part of the sky. Then it started to get larger. I quickly ran into the house to get a binocular but by the time I got back it was twice the size and went directly overhead with a trail of smoke. Happened so quick that I couldn't get the binos focused. So, next day I email Meteorite Men (loved that show!) but they couldn't confirm that it was a meteorite but rather space junk. It was spectacular to see though 

[TogH]

I'd like to share my story of the time I saw a meteor. When I was in military in my CIS country I won't mention, I saw a bright yellow meteor on the southern sky in around november of 2021. It was far away but close enough to see the ball of fire. It was fast, sparkling orange particles and even lighting up the dark 4-5 am sky when I was getting returned by my corporal from guard duty. It happened in half a second, easy to miss and when I told guard commander and others, no one said they saw it. Fortunately, there was other private who was returning with me and he did saw it too so I know I wasn't seeing things from lack of sleep.

[JohnTMN]

The meteor was spitting out sparks like no tomorrow and hissing loud enough for me to hear it. 

Been there, done that.

And I don't care what title of meteor or comet, or debris that all want to call it in technicality.

I too, have had streaking/burning celestial objects making sounds over my head
 

[Yomamma]

Could have been an electrophonic meteor producing very low frequency radio waves that could be perceived as sound at the same time as the visual observation. See Photoacoustic Sounds from Meteors, Spalding, R. et.al 2017 Scientific Reports 7, it is an Open Access article.

I believe that may be what it was. It was definitely some sort of meteor object and I could have misjudged the height as it was not small but the sky was clear so no lightning balls.  

[Yomamma]

The very first Perseid i watched (out of only four seen in an hour- on its supposed peak), was a barn burner bolide at least to -7 or -8 magnitude leaving a wide smoke trail lasting for only a moment or so and was the best i've seen in a couple decades.

That was the same evening the bright surora manifested just as I was sweeping lyra with my 12×40s EXACTLY in the center of field and was subsequently dazzled by a very vivid display with hints of pink seen through whiteish curtains.



CS

This one had a long trail behind it.

[bob71741]

38 people saw a meteor about 0100Z over Florida; one of the witnesses located up around Tallahassee heard "crackles" as it passed over her head. The times do not match up exactly, but every watch is not set or read correctly.

 

link to AMS website: https://fireball.ams...event/2024/4051

[PKDfan]

This one had a long trail behind it.

Hey Yomamma !!

Mine too ! i'd call it a real sizzler smoker hardly ever seen EVER as the rest of the show was -1 size and very short tails but this one was about 40degrees long and as said a massively wide smoke contrail a few degrees wide and my skin tingled Hoping that that was the Start of another bolide storm i experienced in Vancouver under low cloud and every minute or so there was a WHAM BAM brilliant BOLIDE bullets lighting up the clouds.

A storm that i'll never forget but this first one was really it for me, so began sweeping overhead in a zero g recliner and thats when the big- my own class 7-8 storm ensued and like most times this solar peak it fizzed out relatively quickly.


Happy times after mediocre few months observing.



Clearest Skies
Lance

Edited by PKDfan, 16 August 2024 - 10:06 PM.

[AstroPepper]

wow … but remember if it crashes down and you find it don’t poke it with a stick and let it crawl up your arm! (hides)

[ColoHank]

Back in my park service days, I'd occasionally hear tiny bursts of static on our Hi VHF two-way radios when a meteor would streak across the sky.  Ionizing radiation, I guess.

[PKDfan]

wow … but remember if it crashes down and you find it don’t poke it with a stick and let it crawl up your arm! (hides)

Ha ha The Blob ?

HONESTLY DON'T TOUCH IT as if your first to witness a bolide breakup and land its EXTREMELY VALUABLE both scientifically and economically as collectors and scientists both will fight over it.


I had highway traffic near my bright bolide or else i might have heard it as it seemed close.



CS
Lance

[Yomamma]

38 people saw a meteor about 0100Z over Florida; one of the witnesses located up around Tallahassee heard "crackles" as it passed over her head. The times do not match up exactly, but every watch is not set or read correctly.

 

link to AMS website: https://fireball.ams...event/2024/4051

That was the approximate time. 0100 Z is about 9PM which is when I saw it

[msinc]

I have heard noise from meteorites {or something doing an extremely good impression of one} a couple of times. Kind of just a dull quick hissing sound. Maybe like someone tearing a sheet of paper in the next room.

I have also been told that you can't hear them. Since the average "shooting star" starts to glow between 50 and 75 miles high.....it makes sense that it cannot be heard, so I don't know what these things were, but I definitely heard a hiss noise at exactly the same time I saw them. Never found anything, and also never heard it hit the ground. One of life's great mysteries I suppose. 

I did find a heavy nickel-iron meteorite in one of my fields about 20 years ago. Kicked it up while plowing a feed plot. I was looking behind me when I heard a metallic clink noise and saw a bright shower of sparks. I found it, took it home and cleaned all the dirt off of it and still have it sitting on my desk. M

[Tom Barnacle]

I have heard noise from meteorites {or something doing an extremely good impression of one} a couple of times. Kind of just a dull quick hissing sound. Maybe like someone tearing a sheet of paper in the next room.

I have also been told that you can't hear them. Since the average "shooting star" starts to glow between 50 and 75 miles high.....it makes sense that it cannot be heard...............

The low frequency radiation travels at the same speed as light, so the audible effect would occur at the same time as the light arrives at the observer. It is not sound that is traveling from the meteor, it is EM radiation. You probably heard the effects of this.
 

[LeoUK]

Back in my park service days, I'd occasionally hear tiny bursts of static on our Hi VHF two-way radios when a meteor would streak across the sky.  Ionizing radiation, I guess.

Yes, I believe that is correct. Meteor researchers often use radio waves, reflected from ionized meteor trains to gather data on meteors and meteor showers. Unlike visual observations, which are often hampered by clouds, radio meteor detection gives us a way to "see" what is going on even if visual observation isn't possible, so it's quite a useful tool for research. I just posted some data gathered like this here as it happens.

[LeoUK]

The low frequency radiation travels at the same speed as light, so the audible effect would occur at the same time as the light arrives at the observer. It is not sound that is traveling from the meteor, it is EM radiation. You probably heard the effects of this.
 

Yes. Or to put it another way, although we can't usually hear meteors directly, we CAN hear them in-directly since meteors are not only bright in visible parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, but also in the radio parts of the spectrum, and just like the radio signals we know, under certain circumstances objects around us can pick up these waves and relay them to us as sound.

 

Anyone ever hear those anecdotes of dental fillings picking up radio stations?!

[roscoe]

I have!  I worked when a late teen as a broadcast engineer at the local AM radio station, and two people who lived right near the antenna could hear the station in their mouths, and another neighbour could hear the station in their washing machine.  I was not able to hear the dental radios, but i clearly heard the washing machine playing our brand of rock music.

[roscoe]

ps..... last fall, I saw a big, spectacular bolide, crossed about 3/4 of the visible sky, and..... shot sparks like a sparkler, and audibly crackled all the way across the sky!

[msinc]

The low frequency radiation travels at the same speed as light, so the audible effect would occur at the same time as the light arrives at the observer. It is not sound that is traveling from the meteor, it is EM radiation. You probably heard the effects of this.
 

Thank you for the explanation!!!! End of the big mystery.....well, at least for me it is!!!!