# Sonic BOOOOM!!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 30, 2008, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonic-boooom/475095 "2008-11-30T21:25:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonic-boooom/475095/1 "2008-11-30T21:25:05Z")
Right at 1:20 this afternoon, there was a sudden BOOM!-BOOM! outside which rocked the whole house – almost felt like an earthquake, except the ground didn’t shake. Freaked me out at first, until I checked the news and saw, yep, [it’s the Space Shuttle landing.](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081130/ap_on_sc/space_shuttle) Always triggers a double sonic boom as it glides into Edwards AFB. 🆒 Did anyone else feel it? ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonic-boooom/475095/2 "2008-11-30T21:26:32Z")
Wow, I had no idea it traveled that far. I live near Edwards, so I always hear it. Shook my windows pretty good, as usual. 🙂 ETA: sonic booms are always “double”. The sound barrier is broken at the front of the craft, and at the rear. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonic-boooom/475095/3 "2008-11-30T21:28:36Z")
I think it was the Space Shuttle landing. Either that or my neighbors house just blew up. That really happened a few years ago in Redondo Beach, when there was a gas leak in a house that was getting termite tented. Something ignited and the whole house blew up. I thought it was the space shuttle landing. Does anyone know how far the sonic boom from the space shuttle can be felt/heard? ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonic-boooom/475095/4 "2008-11-30T21:29:13Z")
[Hey over here.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=495344)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonic-boooom/475095/5 "2008-11-30T21:30:57Z")
Yup I heard it and started [a thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=495345)about it too. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonic-boooom/475095/6 "2008-11-30T21:33:35Z")
When I’m at home in Boca Raton, like I am today, I cannot hear it. When I’m at work in north West Palm Beach / Riviera Beach, I can hear it quite clearly. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonic-boooom/475095/7 "2008-11-30T21:35:14Z")
> [@Queen\_Bruin](#): > > ETA: sonic booms are always “double”. The sound barrier is broken at the front of the craft, and at the rear. I’m still kicking myself for not taking compressible fluids class, but I thought it was because of the nose and the front of the wings both breaking the sound barrier. The way I understand it, the buildup occurs in front of the projectile, not on the rear. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonic-boooom/475095/8 "2008-11-30T21:37:33Z")
That could be. I’m not an expert, by a long shot. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonic-boooom/475095/9 "2008-11-30T21:41:58Z")
I live 80 miles away from Edwards and I heard and felt the boom…it wasn’t as powerful as, say a 5.0 earthquake, but felt more like a huge truck was driving right by my house making everything vibrate and the boom itself was moderately loud. So how far from the “epicenter” can the vibrations/sound be felt/heard? ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonic-boooom/475095/10 "2008-11-30T21:45:07Z")
Oh duh. :smack: I noted the exact time—1:20, and went outside to see if a car had hit a nearby house. Seeing nothing, I pulled up the USGS page to check for seismic activity. Seeing nothing, I just went back to reading CNN and saw that the shuttle had just landed. Didn’t click. I’m just getting dense in my old age. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonic-boooom/475095/11 "2008-11-30T21:46:38Z")
I only heard one “boom.” 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonic-boooom/475095/12 "2008-11-30T21:57:11Z")
> [@Santo\_Rugger](#): > > I’m still kicking myself for not taking compressible fluids class, but I thought it was because of the nose and the front of the wings both breaking the sound barrier. The way I understand it, the buildup occurs in front of the projectile, not on the rear. While I, also not really fluent in fluid dynamics, always thought it was the pressure characteristic of the sound wave that caused the double ‘boom’ – one when the compressed air hits the ear, and one when the air pressure reaches normal again after the ‘valley’ of the sonic boom. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonic-boooom/475095/13 "2008-11-30T22:00:54Z")
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic\_boom > [@](#): > > There is a sudden rise in pressure at the nose, decreasing steadily to a negative pressure at the tail, followed by a sudden return to normal pressure after the object passes. This “overpressure profile” is known as an N-wave because of its shape. The “boom” is experienced when there is a sudden change in pressure, so the N-wave causes two booms, one when the initial pressure rise from the nose hits, and another when the tail passes and the pressure suddenly returns to normal. ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonic-boooom/475095/14 "2008-11-30T22:02:32Z")
Reminds me of when I was a kid in the early '60’s. We lived just a few miles south of Boeing Field when they were testing the SST (or something similar.) For a little while there the BA-BOOM of the plane(s) was almost commonplace before the project was scrapped. I can still hear it in my mind’s ear and wouldn’t mind hearing it again for old time’s sake. Ah, to be at Edwards next year. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonic-boooom/475095/15 "2008-11-30T22:20:01Z")
> [@Queen\_Bruin](#): > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic\_boom That also says: > [@](#): > > When an object passes through the air, it creates a series of pressure waves in front of it and behind it, similar to the bow and stern waves created by a boat. > [@](#): > > Several smaller shock waves can, and usually do, form at other points on the aircraft, primarily any convex points or curves, the leading wing edge and especially the inlet to engines. These secondary shockwaves are caused by the air being forced to turn around these convex points, which generates a shock wave in supersonic flow. apparently supporting both other theories about the nature of the double boom. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonic-boooom/475095/16 "2008-11-30T22:24:13Z")
So, the ‘boom’ is caused by the air ‘clapping’ together behind the aircraft, or at points along it? ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonic-boooom/475095/17 "2008-11-30T22:36:49Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > So, the ‘boom’ is caused by the air ‘clapping’ together behind the aircraft, or at points along it? Sounds like that’s what the second shock is. The first one extends backwards in a cone shape (think of those things a dog wears when it has surgery, but backwards). You hear the boom when the plane of the cone passes you, so even though the boom is traveling at the speed of sound, the cone is traveling at the speed of the aircraft. ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonic-boooom/475095/18 "2008-11-30T22:55:28Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > Right at 1:20 this afternoon, there was a sudden BOOM!-BOOM! outside which rocked the whole house – almost felt like an earthquake, except the ground didn’t shake. > > Freaked me out at first, until I checked the news and saw, yep, [it’s the Space Shuttle landing.](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081130/ap_on_sc/space_shuttle) Always triggers a double sonic boom as it glides into Edwards AFB. 🆒 > > Did anyone else feel it? Hahaha…I thought from the title this was going to be about that old cartoon…I think it was street fighter but correct me if I’m wrong…the lead hero would always say \*\*\*“Sonic BOOOOOM!” \*\*\*when he used his powers. That always cracked me up for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonic-boooom/475095/19 "2008-11-30T23:15:32Z")
Dammit, we’re always telling Guile to fight E. Honda somewhere else, but does he listen? Noooooo! ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonic-boooom/475095/20 "2008-12-01T02:30:25Z")
> [@Jolly\_Roger](#): > > Hahaha…I thought from the title this was going to be about that old cartoon…I think it was street fighter but correct me if I’m wrong…the lead hero would always say \*\*\*“Sonic BOOOOOM!” \*\*\*when he used his powers. That always cracked me up for some reason. Well, I was basically quoting Guile from [Street Fighter II](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_Fighter_II) – they made a cartoon of that game? It figures. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sonic-boooom/475095.md?page=2)