First laboratory generation of astrophysical shock waves created

Rochester, NY.  Laboratory for Laser Energetics.

The first laboratory generation of an astrophysical shock wave has been reported by scientists. To produce the wave, scientists used a laser to create a high-energy plasma — a form of matter composed of atoms and charged atomic particles — that expanded into a pre-existing magnetized plasma. The interaction created, within a few billionths of a second, a magnetized shock wave that expanded at a rate of more than 1 million miles per hour, congruent with shocks beyond the solar system.

Physicist Derek Schaeffer is pictured. Credit: Elle Starkman/PPPL Office of Communications

 

 

Source: First laboratory generation of astrophysical shock waves created — ScienceDaily

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