Whistling meteor

From Glossary of Meteorology



whistling meteor

Occurs when a radio meteor is illuminated by an unmodulated radio wave, the reflected wave being shifted in frequency because of the Doppler effect.

The difference between the frequencies of the transmitted and reflected waves can be transformed into an audio signal, the frequency of which changes because of the changing motion of the meteor relative to the receiver. Whistling meteors get their name from the sound they produce in radio receivers, not because they are directly audible (although some meteors are).


Copyright 2024 American Meteorological Society (AMS). For permission to reuse any portion of this work, please contact permissions@ametsoc.org. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be “fair use” under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 U.S. Code § 107) or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S.Copyright Act (17 USC § 108) does not require AMS’s permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form, such as on a website or in a searchable database, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statement, require written permission or a license from AMS. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policy statement.