Very cool!
Two U.S. Air Force craft were traveling so fast — quicker than the speed of sound — and so close together that the shock waves emanating from the craft began to merge… and NASA was there to capture photographic proof.
The resulting snapshots are the first-ever photos of two supersonic shock waves (pressure waves) interacting in the air. And it's quite a sight: It looks as though the atmosphere folded up into a fresh batch of laundry.
As an aircraft travels, it pushes the air in front of it and creates waves, just like a motor boat creates waves as it moves through the water.
But when aircraft travel faster than the speed of sound — or faster than 767 mph (1235 km/h) — it moves faster than the waves it creates. Because air molecules can't keep up with its speed, they begin to compress. This creates a rapid increase in pressure in front of the craft, resulting in a different kind of wave: supersonic shock wave. Though humans can't see these shock waves, we can hear them merging together as they move through the atmosphere as a thunder-like sound called a sonic boom.
Click here for the link to the article...
Two U.S. Air Force craft were traveling so fast — quicker than the speed of sound — and so close together that the shock waves emanating from the craft began to merge… and NASA was there to capture photographic proof.
The resulting snapshots are the first-ever photos of two supersonic shock waves (pressure waves) interacting in the air. And it's quite a sight: It looks as though the atmosphere folded up into a fresh batch of laundry.
As an aircraft travels, it pushes the air in front of it and creates waves, just like a motor boat creates waves as it moves through the water.
But when aircraft travel faster than the speed of sound — or faster than 767 mph (1235 km/h) — it moves faster than the waves it creates. Because air molecules can't keep up with its speed, they begin to compress. This creates a rapid increase in pressure in front of the craft, resulting in a different kind of wave: supersonic shock wave. Though humans can't see these shock waves, we can hear them merging together as they move through the atmosphere as a thunder-like sound called a sonic boom.
Click here for the link to the article...