Speculative platform integrates Large Plasma Device with lasers, magnetic dipoles; exposes insights about Earths guard versus solar wind.
A magnetosphere types around any allured object, such as a world, that is immersed within a stream of ionized gas, called plasma. Since Earth possesses an intrinsic magnetic field, the world is surrounded by a large magnetosphere that extends out into space, blocks lethal cosmic rays and particles from the sun and stars, and enables life itself to exist.
In Physics of Plasmas, by AIP Publishing, researchers from Princeton, UCLA, and the Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal, report an approach to study smaller magnetospheres, in some cases simply millimeters thick, in the lab.
These mini-magnetospheres have been observed around comets and near specific areas of the moon and have been suggested to move spacecraft. They are great testbeds for studying larger planet-sized magnetospheres.
Image of the laser-driven plasma broadening into the dipole electromagnetic field. Electromagnetic field measurements revealing the area of the magnetopause are overlaid. Credit: Derek Schaeffer
Previous laboratory experiments have actually been performed making use of plasma wind tunnels or high-energy lasers to develop mini-magnetospheres. These earlier experiments were limited to 1D measurements of magnetic fields that do not record the complete 3D habits scientists need to understand.
” To overcome these limitations, we have actually established a brand-new speculative platform to study mini-magnetospheres on the Large Plasma Device (LAPD) at UCLA,” said author Derek Schaeffer.
This platform integrates the magnetic field of the LAPD with a fast laser-driven plasma and a current-driven dipole magnet.
The LAPD magnetic field provides a design of the planetary systems interplanetary electromagnetic field, while the laser-driven plasma designs the solar wind and the dipole magnet provides a design for the Earths inherent electromagnetic field. Motorized probes allow system scans in 3 dimensions by integrating information from tens of countless laser shots.
Simulation of a laser-driven plasma broadening into a dipole magnetic field. Credit: Filipe Cruz
One advantage to utilizing this setup is that the magnetic field and other parameters can be thoroughly differed and managed.
If the dipole magnet is switched off, all indications of a magnetosphere disappear. When the magnetic field of the dipole is turned on, a magnetopause can be found, which is crucial proof of the development of a magnetosphere.
A magnetopause is the location in the magnetosphere where pressure from the planetary electromagnetic field is exactly stabilized by the solar wind. The experiments revealed that as the dipole electromagnetic field is increased, the magnetopause gets larger and stronger.
The effect on the magnetopause was predicted by computer simulations, which were brought out by the private investigators to comprehend and verify their speculative outcomes more totally. These simulations will likewise assist future experiments, consisting of studies making use of a cathode recently installed on the LAPD.
” The new cathode will enable quicker plasma streams, which in turn will enable us to study the bow shocks observed around many worlds,” Schaeffer said.
Other experiments will study magnetic reconnection, a crucial procedure in Earths magnetosphere in which electromagnetic fields wipe out to launch tremendous energy.
Referral: “Laser-driven, ion-scale magnetospheres in lab plasmas. I. Experimental platform and very first results” by Derek B. Schaeffer, Filipe D. Cruz, Robert S. Dorst, Fabio Cruz, Peter V. Heuer, Carmen G. Constantin, Patrick Pribyl, Christoph Niemann, Luis O. Silva and Amitava Bhattacharjee, 12 April 2022, Physics of Plasmas.DOI: 10.1063/ 5.0084353.