Supersonic shockwaves photo captured by Nasa for first time

Nasa has taken a series of history-making photographs.

The pictures show shockwaves from two supersonic aircraft interacting mid-flight.

Supersonic aircraft means they were travelling faster than the speed of sound. When aircraft do this, special shockwaves are produced which interact in the air making a noise called a supersonic boom, which can be heard from the ground.

Capturing these shockwaves interacting mid-air in a photograph is important as it will give researchers information about how these shockwaves work, which could have a big impact on designing supersonic aircraft in the future.

Nasa is particularly excited about these pictures as the agency is in fact currently designing a new aircraft called the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology X-plane (or X-59 QueSST), which will not produce a supersonic boom like other aircraft.

Instead, when it breaks the speed of sound, you will only be able to hear a quiet rumble.

So these pictures - and the equipment with which they were taken - will help Nasa to develop the right technology for this plane and understand the noises that it makes as it breaks the sound barrier.

Currently, there are restrictions on where supersonic aircraft are allowed to fly, so designing a plane that doesn't make the boom noise could be a significant development in aviation history.

Nasa scientist JT Heineck, who has been trying to capture this moment on camera for many years, says: "I am ecstatic about how these images turned out."