ORION laser tagged posts

How to make ‘your own supernova’

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How to make a supernova – Summer Science Exhibition 2017

Researchers are using the largest, most intense lasers on the planet, to for the first time, show the general public how to recreate the effects of supernovae, in a laboratory. One of the most extreme astrophysical events, Supernova explosions are the violent deaths of certain stars that scatter elements heavier than hydrogen and helium into surrounding space. Our own solar system is thought to have formed when a nearby supernova exploded distributing these elements into a cloud of hydrogen that then condensed to form our sun and the planets. In fact, the very atoms that make up our bodies were formed in the remnants of such an explosion.
 
Working in collaboration with Imperial College, London, and AWE Aldermaston the tea...
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