When is the next meteor shower? EarthSky’s meteor shower guide
Sometimes, after a meteor shower, people report hearing the
meteors. Some exceptionally bright meteors have been reported as
being accompanied by a low hissing sound – like bacon sizzling.
For years, professional astronomers dismissed the notion of
sounds from meteors as fiction. Typically, a meteor burns up
about 100 kilometers – or 60 miles – above the Earth’s surface.
Because sound travels so much more slowly than light does, the
rumblings of a particularly large meteor shouldn’t be heard for
several minutes after the meteor’s sighting. A meteor 100
kilometers high would boom about five minutes after it appears.
Such an object is called a “sonic” meteor. The noise it makes is
related to the sonic boom caused by a faster-than-sound
aircraft. But what about meteors that seem to make a sound at
the same time you are seeing them? These meteors would be seen
and heard simultaneously. Is this possible? Astronomers now say
it is possible. They speak o