#particle acceleration

[worldbuildingwanderlust]

We are particles

In acceleration

Eagerly anticipating

Our inevitable

Collision

[sspacegodd]

Hey look, the particles are waving!

[intelligentliving]

Scientists Create Miniature Particle Accelerator On A Computer Chip - Intelligent Living

Scientists from Stanford University and SLAC have developed a miniature particle accelerator that could fight cancer by the end of 2020.

[fuckyeahastrophysics]

Insight into the Solar Atmosphere

On November 11th, 2019, the NASA Parker Solar Probe (PSP) successfully completed its third rotation around the Sun, in an ongoing effort to collect detailed data about the heliosphere region. The probe is the closest any spacecraft has come to the Sun, which allows the onboard instruments up-close access to its structure and inner workings. PSP is set to make 24 orbits before ending its mission, with eventual iterations moving the probe closer and closer to the Sun. Despite only being two years into its journey, PSP is already providing a great deal of valuable data.

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[alxndrasplace]

On three occasions, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has detected gamma rays from solar storms on the far side of the sun, emission the Earth-orbiting satellite shouldn't be able to detect. Particles accelerated by these eruptions somehow reach around to produce a gamma-ray glow on the side of the sun facing Earth and Fermi. Watch to learn more.

Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Scott Wiessinger, producer

An international science team says NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has observed high-energy light from solar eruptions located on the far side of the sun, which should block direct light from these events. This apparent paradox is providing solar scientists with a unique tool for exploring how charged particles are accelerated to nearly the speed of light and move across the sun during solar flares.

(Full article here)

[alxndrasplace]

This visualization represents one of the traditional proposed mechanisms for accelerating particles across a shock, called a shock drift acceleration. The electrons (yellow) and protons (blue) can be seen moving in the collision area where two hot plasma bubbles collide (red vertical line). The cyan arrows represent the magnetic field and the light green arrows, the electric field.

Credits: NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio/Tom Bridgman, data visualizer.

(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center)  Shock Drift Acceleration (SDA)

High above the surface, Earth’s magnetic field constantly deflects incoming supersonic particles from the sun. These particles are disturbed in regions just outside of Earth’s magnetic field – and some are reflected into a turbulent region called the foreshock. New observations from NASA’s THEMIS – short for Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms – mission show that this turbulent region can accelerate electrons up to speeds approaching the speed of light. Such extremely fast particles have been observed in near-Earth space and many other places in the universe, but the mechanisms that accelerate them have not yet been concretely understood.

The new results provide the first steps towards an answer while opening up more questions. The research finds electrons can be accelerated to extremely high speeds in a near-Earth region farther from Earth than previously thought possible – leading to new inquiries about what causes the acceleration. These findings may change the accepted theories on how electrons can be accelerated not only in shocks near Earth, but also throughout the universe. Having a better understanding of how particles are energized will help scientists and engineers better equip spacecraft and astronauts to deal with these particles, which can cause equipment to malfunction and affect space travelers.

Full article here

[alxndrasplace]

(ESA)  SATURN BOWSHOCK

The international Cassini spacecraft exploring the magnetic environment of Saturn. The image is not to scale. Saturn’s magnetosphere is depicted in grey, while the complex bow shock region – the shock wave in the solar wind that surrounds the magnetosphere – is shown in blue.

While crossing the bow shock on 3 February 2007, Cassini recorded a particularly strong shock (an Alfvén Mach number of approximately 100) under a ‘quasi-parallel’ magnetic field configuration, during which significant particle acceleration was detected for the first time. The findings provide insight into particle acceleration at the shocks surrounding the remnants of supernova explosions.

[skycrorg]

⚡🌌 A pulsar fifty times less powerful than the Crab is somehow accelerating particles more efficiently than the textbook allows. 🔭 LHAASO's detection of PeV gamma rays from PSR J1849-0001's nebula — now called the Aquila Booster — exceeds 27% of the theoretical acceleration efficiency limit, breaking the standard termination-shock model and rewriting what we thought we knew about cosmic accelerators. ✨ The Crab is no longer the benchmark. Read the full article on SKYCR. 👇

Aquila Booster: a modest pulsar that out-accelerates the Crab and breaks the textbook