When the cork pops on a bottle of champagne, the physics is akin to that of a missile launch in more ways than one. In this study, researchers used computational Keep reading
Tag: bow shock
Stellar Bow Shock
This Hubble image shows a young star in the Orion Nebula and the curved bow shock arcing around it. Despite its age, the star LL Orionis is energetic, producing a Keep reading
Bullet Through a Bubble
A bullet passes through a soap bubble in the schlieren photo above. The schlieren optical technique is sensitive to changes in the refractive index and, since a fluid’s refractive index changes with density, permits the visualization Keep reading
Martian Landing Physics
A little over a week ago, NASA’s Curiosity rover landed on Mars, the culmination of years of engineering. The mission’s landing, in particular, was the subject of intense scrutiny as Keep reading
Supersonic Flow
This video shows a sphere in a small supersonic wind tunnel at Mach 2.7. Once the tunnel starts, a curved bow shock forms in front of the sphere, close to Keep reading
Supersonic Flow Around a Cylinder
This numerical simulation shows unsteady supersonic flow (Mach 2) around a circular cylinder. On the right are contours of density, and on the left is entropy viscosity, used for stability Keep reading
Bow Shock over a Perforated Plate
This schlieren image shows a sphere traveling at Mach 3 over a perforated plate. The bow shock in front of the sphere is clearly visible, as is its reflection off Keep reading
Astronomical Jets
Researchers have pieced together Hubble images of jets from newborn stars into timelapse movies that reveal the interstellar fluid mechanics responsible for the formation of stars like our sun. These Keep reading
Supersonic Bullet
[original media no longer available] This video shows a CFD simulation of a bullet passing through a parallel channel at Mach 2. The simulation captures 3 milliseconds of real-time and Keep reading