Supernova radiation simulated in Virtual Reality
To astrophysicists, the energy-charged x-ray radiation on the fringes of a supernova explosion has long been enigmatic. It hasn't been possible to explain how the electrons are able to accelerate to nearly the speed of light. Now scientists in England and in Linköping, Sweden, have hit upon a possible explanation by combining supercomputer calculations and VR simulations. When a supernova explodes, a cloud of plasma and gas is thrown out in space. The enigmatic x-ray radiation arises on the circumference of this plasma cloud. Researchers from Linköping University, the University of Warwick, and the Culham Science Centre have tested an idea that was first put forward by two American physici