Disturbances in plasma and magnetic fields in space can create the cosmic version of turbulence - something usually associated with high-speed 'gusty' winds and an airplane here on Earth. Researchers have now come up with a way to measure this hard-to-prove cosmic turbulence.
"We have presented the first experimental measurement in a laboratory plasma of the nonlinear interaction between counter-propagating Alfven waves, the fundamental building block of astrophysical turbulence," lead author of the study Gregory Howes, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Iowa, says.
Alfven waves are "traveling disturbances of the plasma and magnetic field," according to a University of Iowa article by Gary Galluzzo.
Turbulence in space is believed to have played a role in shaping our universe.
"It is thought to play a key role in heating the atmosphere of the sun, the solar corona, to temperatures of a million degrees Celsius, nearly a thousand times hotter than the surface of the sun," says lead author of the study Gregory Howes, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Iowa.
"Turbulence also regulates the formation of the stars throughout the galaxy, determines the radiation emitted from the super massive black hole at the center of our galaxy and mediates the effects that space weather has on the Earth."
Some of the best-known examples of cosmic turbulence are coronal mass ejections from the sun. This explosion from the sun's surface carries powerful magnetic fields along with it that can affect satellite and communications systems here on Earth. Understanding the nature of coronal mass ejections and similar solar disturbances can help prevent widespread disaster in an increasingly electronic age.
Read the Howes' study titled, "Towards Astrophysical Turbuluence in the Laboratory."
An example of a coronal mass ejection from NASA:
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