Space and astrophysical plasma as a physical system refers to ionized gases permeating cosmic environments such as the interstellar and intergalactic medium, stellar winds, accretion disks, and magnetospheres. These plasmas are typically low-collisionality, often magnetized, and governed by collective electromagnetic interactions described by magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), kinetic theory, or hybrid models. Key properties include Debye shielding, anisotropic pressure, and nonthermal particle distributions, with dynamics dominated by magnetic reconnection, turbulence, waves, and instabilities. Space and astrophysical plasmas are central to energy and momentum transport, cosmic ray acceleration, and radiation processes across a vast range of spatial and temporal scales.
It's well established that the universe is expanding, but there's serious disagreement among scientists over how fast it's happening.
Astronomy
Feb 15, 2026
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Harnessing the power of the sun holds the promise of providing future societies with energy abundance. To make this a reality, fusion researchers need to address many technological challenges. For example, fusion reactions ...
General Physics
Feb 13, 2026
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A possible alternative to active debris removal (ADR) by laser is ablative propulsion by a remotely transmitted electron beam (e-beam). The e-beam ablation has been widely used in industries, and it might provide higher overall ...
Plasma Physics
Feb 9, 2026
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A major study by an international team of researchers using data from the NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini spacecraft has revealed a lattice-like structure of crisscrossing reflected waves that flow downstream behind the moon in Saturn's ...
Planetary Sciences
Feb 9, 2026
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In a new study published in Physical Review Letters, scientists have performed the first global simulations of monster shocks—some of the strongest shocks in the universe—revealing how these extreme events in magnetar magnetospheres ...
New simulations performed on a NASA supercomputer are providing scientists with the most comprehensive look yet into the maelstrom of interacting magnetic structures around city-sized neutron stars in the moments before they ...
Astronomy
Jan 29, 2026
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BepiColombo is slowly uncovering more and more fun facts about Mercury as it continues its preliminary mission. One of the more interesting things found so far is a magnetic "chorus" that appears similar to a phenomenon found ...
Space Exploration
Jan 28, 2026
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The dazzling lights of the aurora are created when high-energy particles from space collide with Earth's atmosphere. While scientists have long understood this process, one big mystery remained: What powers the electric fields ...
Planetary Sciences
Jan 28, 2026
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New theoretical models have strengthened the case that immense, energy-harvesting structures orbiting their host stars could exist in principle in distant stellar systems. With the right engineering precautions, calculations ...
All celestial bodies—planets, suns, even entire galaxies—produce magnetic fields, affecting such cosmic processes as the solar wind, high-energy particle transport, and galaxy formation. Small-scale magnetic fields are generally ...
General Physics
Jan 21, 2026
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