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Is this what a Sonic Boom Looks like?

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Is this what a sonic boom looks
like? When an airplane travels at a speed faster than sound, density
waves of sound emitted by the plane cannot precede the plane, and so
accumulate in a cone behind the plane. When this shock wave passes,
a listener hears all at once the sound emitted over a longer period:
a sonic boom. As a plane accelerates to just break the sound
barrier, however, an unusual cloud might form. The origin of this
cloud is still debated. A leading theory is that a drop in air
pressure at the plane described by the Prandtl-Glauert Singularity
occurs so that moist air condenses there to form water droplets.
Above, an F/A-18 Hornet was photographed just as it broke the sound
barrier. Large meteors and the space shuttle frequently produce
audible sonic booms before they are slowed below sound speed by the
Earth's atmosphere.
This picture and
explanation came from the 'Astronomy Picture of the Day' web site
which can be found
here.
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