Twinkling star reveals the shocking secrets of turbulent plasma in our cosmic neighbourhood

By Daniel Reardon, Postdoctoral Researcher, Pulsar Timing and Gravitational Waves, Swinburne University of Technology

With the most powerful radio telescope in the southern hemisphere, we have observed a twinkling star and discovered an abundance of mysterious plasma structures in our cosmic neighbourhood.

The plasma structures we see are variations in density or turbulence, akin to interstellar cyclones stirred up by energetic events in the galaxy.

The study, published today in Nature Astronomy, also describes the first measurements of plasma layers within an interstellar shock wave that surrounds a pulsar.…

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