{"id":43,"date":"2025-01-16T00:42:34","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T00:42:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sonicboomtracker.org\/?page_id=43"},"modified":"2025-01-16T00:42:34","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T00:42:34","slug":"what-is-a-sonic-boom","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/sonicboomtracker.org\/index.php\/what-is-a-sonic-boom\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a sonic boom?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A sonic boom is a powerful shockwave generated when an object, such as a rocket or supersonic aircraft, travels faster than the speed of sound. This phenomenon occurs because the object compresses air in front of it, creating a wave of pressure that propagates outward at high speed. From the perspective of an observer, a sonic boom is experienced as a sudden and very intense burst of sound that typically lasts under a second. The image below shows the point at which the observer on the ground experiences the boom as the sonic boom cone edge or “carpet” passes them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the United States, supersonic commercial flights over land were banned in 1973<\/a>. This law is still in effect today, but there are certain situations that these laws do not cover (including certain supersonic test areas and rocket launches).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is important to distinguish a sonic boom from the engine noise\u2014often referred to as a “rumble”\u2014that accompanies rocket launches or the operation of supersonic aircraft. While the rumble is a lower-intensity sound that can last for around a minute, the sonic boom is a much shorter-lived but highly intense sound event. Understanding this distinction helps us better appreciate the nature and impact of these phenomena on communities and the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the video below, you can hear the intense sonic boom<\/span> of a returning Falcon 9 booster followed by the continuous rumble<\/span> of the engine to slow its descent before landing. Note that it isn’t possible for standard audio equipment (or smartphones) to accurately record, measure or playback a sonic boom as the sound frequencies are in the 0.1\u2013100 hertz frequency range, typcally referred to as “subsonic”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n