• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Noise In Space?

Only if there is a medium through which the sound waves can be propogated. If you were inside a spaceship and were hit by a bunch of debris then yes, you would hear something, but not a big bang.
 
Sound waves are propagated by atoms and molecules.

Due to the almost complete vaccuum of space, no sound will be carried by the nova, or anything else.
 
Now Scotty, don't mislead us all.
Many is the time I have clearly heard the sound of phaser fire from your own Enterprise travelling accross the emptiness of space.
It must be real - I experienced it with my own ears while watching TV.........
 
Always Free said:
If a star exploded, would there be any sound?
Click to expand...

This is hotly debated (pun intended).

It seems to me pretty clear that if there is any explosion in space, gases and particulate matter would emerge from the explosion. Striking a membrane, these would cause vibrations that would be recorded as sound. What it would sound like I don't know, but my guess is that it would sound a lot like an explosion in air, but with the frequencies shifted upward.

Yet I frequently encounter people, doubtless impressed with their mastery of high-school physics, who insist "no air, no boom." On my less charitable days, I believe that the world would be improved if such people were to put their theories to the test, say, by setting off a stick of dynamite in a bell jar with their ears pressed against the glass.
 
Do you think that if a microphone was placed somewhere near the explosion, (not too close) that noise could be detected electronically?
 
You would hear a sound as the shockwave passed. This is because, as pointed out by The Don and epepke, the explosion sends out particles which would form a density wave and our ears work by sensing changes in density. And yes, Always Free, a microphone would pick this up since they are also designed to detect changes in density.

However, in space this is only true for events which emit enough particles, so a laser or someone banging on something would not be audible as there is no medium to carry any density perturbations.
 
Hello all!

To address a few points.

Of course sound travels in 'Star Trek' space, just listen to that whooshing sound as the Enterprise zips during the opening credits by for the proof. :p

And if one were to put their ear next to a bell jar that has exploding dynamite in it, then they will be so close to the explosion that they will be part of it (as opposed to be a witness to it) and since they are in an atmospheric environment when the event occurs, then yes they will hear the explosion (assuming they survive the encounter that is).

However looking at a more modest application of the question, if one was part of a two person team that were on the Moon wearing a space suits and there was some sort of problem with the electronic communication equipment, then even if one shouted as loud as they possibly could, then it would not be possible for the other person on the team to hear them since there is no medium for the sound energy to be carried. However, if there helmets were in mutual contact, then that may be adequate to allow the sound vibrations to be transmitted from one person to other with enough energy so that they could be actually heard.
 
There's an episode of Babylon 5 ("View from the Gallery") where they do the space battle without any sound, as experienced from inside the space station. All you hear is when something actually hits the hull.

In this way I think the viewers were invited to regard other episodes with sound as just "effects" in the same way that the background music was added to enhance the overall experience (I was going to say "atmosphere", but that might have been a bit ambiguous in this context!).

Rolfe.
 
Good point Rolfe, there was a film I saw once (can't remember which) where there was an explosion in space which made no sound until the debris shockwave actually reached the camera viewpoint.

Edit just remembered, it's 2001.
 
wollery said:
Good point Rolfe, there was a film I saw once (can't remember which) where there was an explosion in space which made no sound until the debris shockwave actually reached the camera viewpoint.

Edit just remembered, it's 2001.
Click to expand...

Not so sure about that one. Are you thinking perhaps of "Alien"?
 
You're right, I was thinking of Alien.
I really could do with a brain that files information in a sensible and consistent manner!
 
It's not clear that you or I could hear it, but instrumentation could see the pressure wave going past, no problem.

There are some issues. First, the eardrum fares very poorly when exposed to near-absolute-zero, near-zero-pressure situations, as does the rest of the organism. Second, the level of "sound' in many cases would be way below the threshold of hearing.

The threshold of hearing to a human, by the way, is astonishingly close to the noise level of the atmosphere at STP. The atmosphere has a noise level because it's made of discrete particles.
 
Sound can indeed travel through nebulae. Even though they are very tenuous, they can mediate pressure waves. This can help shape the nebula into filaments, where fast-moving gas slams into slower gas.

Many supernovae occur when the star is still embedded in nebular gas, so you get sound and shock waves moving through the gas.

Now, you wouldn't actually hear anything if you were there, but I try not to miss a chance to be pedantic when I can.
 
wollery said:
Good point Rolfe, there was a film I saw once (can't remember which) where there was an explosion in space which made no sound until the debris shockwave actually reached the camera viewpoint.

Edit just remembered, it's 2001.
Click to expand...

It was the sequel, 2010, wasn't it?
 
I'd think there would be plenty of sound, that would travel through the gases from the star, but it wouldn't be heard if one watches the explosion from the outside. Though shortly after the explosion, the gases will become too thin to transfer any sound.
 
The Don said:
Only if there is a medium through which the sound waves can be propogated. If you were inside a spaceship and were hit by a bunch of debris then yes, you would hear something, but not a big bang.
Click to expand...

And not at the time of the bang. You would have to wait for the gas and debris to reach you and smack into your ship.
 
Rolfe said:
There's an episode of Babylon 5 ("View from the Gallery") where they do the space battle without any sound, as experienced from inside the space station. All you hear is when something actually hits the hull.
Click to expand...

They also established something very clever: That the computer, to aid the pilots and commanders with more tactical information, adds explosion sounds and whooshes to the ships so that you'll know where they are and what is happening; otherwise, you could only know that if you just happened to be looking in the right direction at the right time. Of course, they wouldn't set all of that up just for two grunts eating lunch.

They also made it obvious in the "news coverage" epsiodes that they were dubbing in the noises, by making them louder and different than the others that we normally heard. They do this in the real world, too; when you see that little black-and-white footage from a bomber that's just blown something up, they almost always dub in the sound...at the very least, they eliminate the sound delay.
 
2001 did have the definitive "realistic" use of sound when Dave tries to rescue Frank and tries to reenter the Discovery.

The level of energy in the frequency band of 1- 40,000 Hz is considered sound (elf and ultra sound ) and if you could ignore all the energies the sun produces somehow and send your ship to the photosphere, the level of these energies would tear you and your ship to pieces. The same holds true for a nova explosion the energies and particles realized would provide a perfect medium for propagation of energies in this frequency range, in fact it would transfer more of the em radiation in this band then in air ( sound travels ~4 times faster in water or a solid than air ).
 
Crossbow said:
And if one were to put their ear next to a bell jar that has exploding dynamite in it, then they will be so close to the explosion that they will be part of it (as opposed to be a witness to it) and since they are in an atmospheric environment when the event occurs, then yes they will hear the explosion (assuming they survive the encounter that is).
Click to expand...

I have no personal problems with putting them inside the bell jar. I still think their tympanic membranes would wiggle as gases struck them, presuming that their Eustacian tubes had equalized the pressure.

However looking at a more modest application of the question, if one was part of a two person team that were on the Moon wearing a space suits and there was some sort of problem with the electronic communication equipment, then even if one shouted as loud as they possibly could, then it would not be possible for the other person on the team to hear them since there is no medium for the sound energy to be carried.
Click to expand...

This is true and obvious, but the question was about explosions. The fictional cinematic explosions in space I have seen do not seem to be terribly far away. Obviously, there is a distance where one would be blown to bits, and a distance where the amount of material reaching the transducer (an eardrum or microphone) would be miniscule. Between the two, there would be a non-destructive vibrational effect that for all functional intents and purposes could be called sound.

Furthermore, while there is no air to transfer the motion of the expanding gases etc. there is no air to stop them, either. No air to slow down particulate bits. If in deep space or free fall, no differential gravity to make them fall to the ground first, either. So I think an explosion would be detectable with membrane transducers at a fairly large distance.

If a star blew up, I guess that one would be fried before one had a chance to hear anything.

It would be interesting to try this out, say with a firecracker and a microphone in an evacuated chamber.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom