shock waves tagged posts

A view of a sunspot on the solar surface, visible here as a dark collection of plasma with magnetic field strengths similar to those found in modern hospital MRI machines. However, it is the size of the sunspot, which is comparable to that of our own Earth (see the scale Earth depicted in the lower-right corner), that gives these structures immense power and energy. The recent work published in Nature Physics reveals first-time evidence for how a rare breed of magnetic waves, which originate within the centre of sunspots, can form shockwaves that heat the surrounding plasma by thousands of degrees. Credit: Image courtesy of Queen’s University, Belfast

Scientists at Queen’s University Belfast have led an international team to the ground-breaking discovery that magnetic waves crashing throug...

This cartoon shows how gas falling into distant starburst galaxies ends up in vast turbulent reservoirs of cool gas extending 30 000 light-years from the central regions. ALMA has been used to detect these turbulent reservoirs of cold gas surrounding similar distant starburst galaxies. By detecting CH+ for the first time in the distant Universe, this research opens up a new window of exploration into a critical epoch of star formation. Credit: ESO/L. Benassi

5 of 6 distant starburst galaxies were found by ALMA to be surrounded by turbulent reservoirs of hydrogen gas, the fuel for future star formation. In the early universe, brilliant starburst galaxies converted vast stores of hydrogen gas into new stars at a furious pace...

Clemens M. Rumpf, Hugh G. Lewis, Peter M. Atkinson. Asteroid impact effects and their immediate hazards for human populations. Geophysical Research Letters, 2017; DOI: 10.1002/2017GL073191

Violent winds, shock waves from impacts pose greatest threat to humans. If an asteroid struck Earth, which of its effects – scorching heat, flying debris, towering tsunamis – would claim the most lives? A new study has the answer: violent winds and shock waves are the most dangerous effects produced by Earth-impacting asteroids. The study explored 7 effects associated with asteroid impacts – heat, pressure shock waves, flying debris, tsunamis, wind blasts, seismic shaking and cratering – and estimated their lethality for varying sizes...

The MMS satellites encounter a shock wave that forms when a fast wind of charged particles from the Sun slams into Earth’s magnetic field. Credit: APS/Carin Cain

In a new study researchers at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics have used measurements from NASA’s MMS (Magnetospheric MultiScale) satellites to reveal that there are ripples, or surface waves, moving along the surface of shocks in space. Such ripples in shocks can affect how plasma is heated and are potential sites of particle acceleration.

Most visible matter in the Universe consists of ionized gas known as plasma. Shock waves in plasmas form around planets, stars and supernovas. Shocks in supernova explosions are thought to be the main source of cosmic rays – very high energy charged particles from space...