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Thread ID: 72414 2006-09-12 05:07:00 Sonic Boom in CHCH Hitech (9024) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
484123 2006-09-12 05:07:00 www.telstraclear.co.nz

Read this link.
Hitech (9024)
484124 2006-09-12 05:10:00 Quite amazing to hear a sonic boom from a meteor. I heard it thinking a petrol tank or something had exploded! jermsie (6820)
484125 2006-09-12 06:46:00 Quite amazing to hear a sonic boom from a meteor. I heard it thinking a petrol tank or something had exploded!

Yes that was my first reaction - somebody locally had done something to a petrol tank or similar. It was a very large bang and apparently heard over a large area of the S.Island.

Space Junk ?
No way.
Man made space junk, and I am assuming that this is what the police mean, is in fact made as light as possible. Can you imagine the size of rocket needed to lift a large solid object able to produce this noise?
Thomas01 (317)
484126 2006-09-12 07:17:00 Can you imagine the size of rocket needed to lift a large solid object able to produce this noise?

I'm sorry.

I can't follow your logic.
Zippity (58)
484127 2006-09-12 08:38:00 Can you imagine the size of rocket needed to lift a large solid object able to produce this noise?

Sonic booms are caused by objects exceeding the speed of sound. Weight hasn't got a lot to do with it.
pctek (84)
484128 2006-09-12 08:52:00 Were the police testing their new tasers in CHCH by any chance? mister harbies (5607)
484129 2006-09-12 09:00:00 I was walking down the street.
At first I thought something large had been dropped from a crane, then I realised the whole sky above me was reverberating. Like thunder, but it was a cloudless day. And it went on for several seconds.
Nature's power is awesome, eh?
TideMan (4279)
484130 2006-09-12 09:11:00 Meteorite fragments could fetch a tidy sum if located. Wonder how many are out there right now looking for the impact area :p

Or maybe it wasn't meteor after all according to this NZ Herald readers (www.nzherald.co.nz) comment:
A dome object like it was silver grey in colour . It appeared instantly a large boom then it simply disappeared. :waughh:
Jen (38)
484131 2006-09-12 10:23:00 I bet the boy racers were thinking "What kind of bass sytem does it require to make that sound?" gibler (49)
484132 2006-09-12 10:35:00 I'm sorry.

I can't follow your logic.

If space junk - man made, falls through the atmosphere it will be hollow light weight stuff - it will collapse quickly (if I remember rightly we tried to design equipment to withstand 12g max) So there will be little noise. Imagine having a heavy lorry crash and being able to hear it 60 miles away - not possible of course.
To produce the noise heard today requires something very big - very dense - very solid - very heavy. To have such an man made item in space would require a rocket beyond our imagination. Certainly my guess is at least several thousand times more powerful than anything we have so far. I could be wrong.
Tom
Thomas01 (317)
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