Supernova explosions created in UK lab

Researchers from the University of Oxford and Imperial College London have recreated the effects of Supernovae- violent star deaths- within the confines of their laboratory, using one of their largest, most intense lasers on the planet, as part of their research at the week-long Royal Society of Summer Science Exhibition.

Witnessing these experiments can help people to understand the inner working of the Universe. The team was able to mimic some of the properties of these supernovae in the laboratory by using one of the most powerful lasers on Earth.

Each output pulse from the laser lasts only for a few billionths of a second, but, within that time, the power it generates is equivalent to the output of the electricity grid of the entire planet.

The extremes of density and temperature produced by lasers allow scientists to study how the supernova acts when it expands into space, and can also provide an insight into how high-energy particles from space are produced, even how the magnetic field in the galaxy is formed, and what the interior of a giant planet might look like.