Ferrofluids are a colloid consisting of magnetically sensitive nanoparticles suspended in a carrier liquid, like oil. They’re often associated with a distinctive spiky appearance when exposed to a magnet, but this isn’t their only magnetic Keep reading
Tag: magnetohydrodynamics
Grayscale Aurora
This swirling grayscale image shows a spring aurora over the Hudson Bay, as seen by the Suomi NPP satellite. As energetic particles from the sun zip past Earth, they interact with our magnetosphere, which Keep reading
Plasma Shock Waves
Solar flares and coronal mass ejections send out shock waves that reverberate through our solar system. But shock waves through plasma – the ionized, high-energy particles making up the solar wind – do Keep reading
Liquid Magnets
Ferrofluids – those distinctively spiky liquids – are made up of magnetically sensitive nanoparticles in a carrier liquid, and although they respond to applied magnetic fields, they retain no magnetism outside Keep reading
Magnetic Storms
Periodically, our sun releases plasma in a coronal mass ejection. Afterwards, the local magnetic field lines shift and reorganize. We can see that process in action here because charged particles spin along Keep reading
Astrophysical Turbulence
Subsonic turbulence – like the random and chaotic motions of air and water in our everyday lives – is something we have only a limited understanding of. Our knowledge of Keep reading
Simulating Solar Flares
Few topics in fluid dynamics are more mathematically complicated than magnetohydrodynamics – the marriage between electromagnetism and fluids. That mathematical complexity, along with the vast range of scales necessary to Keep reading
Solar Prominence
Near the surface of the sun, the interplay of magnetic fields and plasma flow creates solar prominences that appear to dance. The prominence shown here was recorded in 2012 by Keep reading
Merging Black Holes
At the heart of many galaxies, including our own, lies a supermassive black hole millions of times the mass of our sun. Scientists have yet to observe the merger of Keep reading
Shock Waves in the Solar Wind
The empty space of our solar system is not truly empty, as we’ve discussed previously. For one, there’s a fast-moving flux of charged particles – the solar wind – that Keep reading