Scientists Recreate Cosmic Explosions and Planetary Cores with Lasers on Earth

Scientists are learning more about the mysteries of space by recreating some interesting interactions in the lab. By using high-intensity lasers, scientists have mimicked the cosmic explosions that occur in the depths of space.

In this case, the scientists used powerful lasers to recreate what happens at the beginning of solar flares and stellar explosions, creating something like a gigantic plasma tsunami in space. Much of what happens during these instances is related to magnetic reconnection, which can accelerate particles to high energy and is the force that drives solar flares toward Earth.

These tsunamis, called shock waves, are thin areas found at the boundary between a collapsed supernova and the colder material around it. At this boundary is a steep, tsunami-like wall of plasma that has a turbulent magnetic field that can sweep up plasma to create the tsunami.

In one experiment, the scientists focused high-powered lasers on a small sphere to create intense shock waves, producing some of the highest pressures ever measured at a billion atmospheres. This showed how matter behaves at very high density, such as in the metallic cores of gas-giant planets and in imploding capsules for inertial fusion energy development.

In another experiment, the scientists used the layers to create miniature versions of the space "tsunamis." Two lasers zapped two pieces of plastic in a vacuum chamber to 10 million degrees to create two colliding plumes of extremely hot plasma. In the end, they found that when the two plasmas merged, they broke into clumps of long filaments called a "Weibel instability."

In fact, it's likely that Weibel instability is what causes the turbulent magnetic fields that form the tsunamis, or shock waves, in space. The magnetic field is also what pushes on and accelerates cosmic waves.

The findings reveal a bit more about the processes that occur in space. This, in turn, paves the way for future studies.