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How can a meteoroid create a shock wave in Earth’s atmosphere?

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Meteor and meteoroid The Cabin Creek meteorite, an iron (nickel-iron alloy) meteorite that was observed to fall in northwestern Arkansas on March 27, 1886. Its characteristic pattern of “thumbprint” dimples, or regmaglypts, is the result of melting and consequent ablation of its surface as it traveled through the atmosphere. The meteorite is likely a fragment of one of the M class asteroids, which show significant nickel-iron in their surface material.

A meteoroid creates a shock wave in Earth’s atmosphere primarily due to its extreme velocity. As a meteoroid enters the atmosphere at speeds ranging from 11.2 km per second to as high as 72 km per second, it collides with atmospheric gas molecules.12

Because these velocities are supersonic, the meteoroid cannot move the air out of its way through normal acoustic processes. Instead, the air ahead of the object is compressed violently and almost instantaneously, leading to the formation of a shock wave. This process involves a sudden, violent change in the density, pressure, and temperature of the surrounding air.134

As the meteoroid travels, it expends a portion of its kinetic energy to push aside the air it encounters, which contributes to the development of this shock front. In the case of larger meteoroids, these shock waves can be intense enough to reach the ground, producing sounds similar to thunder or sonic booms, and can even cause physical damage, such as flattening trees, if the energy release is sufficiently catastrophic.1