We had a sonic boom hit north central Florida just a couple hours ago, and it has social media (around here) going crazy guessing on the cause. The local airport showed nothing on the radar, and calls to the nearby air force base returned a response of "it wasn't us".
We have a lot of folks saying it could be a meteor from the Geminid meteor shower that is happening this weekend. My understanding is that the average size 'meteor' from this shower is about the size of a grain of sand, which is just debris from an asteroid.
I'm wondering how big would one of these pieces need to be before we'd hear such a sonic boom. Especially one heard over such a large area. And of course if it is even likely that (were this to have been caused by a meteor) it came from this particular asteroid. Is this shower known to cause sonic booms? I don't ever recall one happening before during this shower over the past years.
ETA:
Information coming in is that it was a weapons test:
"Confirmation has been received by The Gilchrist County Emergency Management, that the loud "booms" heard today is a "Weapons Systems Test" 150 miles off the coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. Tests will continue today and cease over the weekend and then resume Monday morning. The "Weapons Systems Test" is a joint operation between the UNITED STATES NAVY AND AIR FORCE."
I'd still like to know how big a meteor needs to be to create such a sonic boom. And if the Geminid shower could make one. :)
We have a lot of folks saying it could be a meteor from the Geminid meteor shower that is happening this weekend. My understanding is that the average size 'meteor' from this shower is about the size of a grain of sand, which is just debris from an asteroid.
I'm wondering how big would one of these pieces need to be before we'd hear such a sonic boom. Especially one heard over such a large area. And of course if it is even likely that (were this to have been caused by a meteor) it came from this particular asteroid. Is this shower known to cause sonic booms? I don't ever recall one happening before during this shower over the past years.
ETA:
Information coming in is that it was a weapons test:
"Confirmation has been received by The Gilchrist County Emergency Management, that the loud "booms" heard today is a "Weapons Systems Test" 150 miles off the coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. Tests will continue today and cease over the weekend and then resume Monday morning. The "Weapons Systems Test" is a joint operation between the UNITED STATES NAVY AND AIR FORCE."
I'd still like to know how big a meteor needs to be to create such a sonic boom. And if the Geminid shower could make one. :)
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