Laser-Focused on Space Weather

“It’s like a radar gun for particles.”
— Earl Scime of West Virginia University, describing unique research on magnetic reconnection by postdoctoral student Peiyun Shi—with space weather implications—that utilizes a laser-based diagnostic to probe plasma. In a technique Shi compares to the Doppler effect, when light from the laser beams scatters off electrons in lab-created plasma, Shi can observe the scattering and measure the speed of the electrons, which was not possible in previous research. The laser can also safely measure particles despite the extreme heat (more than 10,000°F) of the plasma, which would melt a probe or thermometer. Magnetic reconnection—in which oppositely directed magnetic field lines in plasma break and reconnect—has a significant impact on solar plasma eruptions that can trigger solar flares and space weather harmful to satellites, spacecraft, communication systems, and power grids. “Every time we understand more about magnetic reconnection, it has applications from space weather to thermonuclear fusion, to a basic understanding of how the universe works,” Scime says. The study was published in Physical Review Letters. [Source: West Virginia University]

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