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Traveling at the speed of light is an essential element of science fiction in space. No movie "Star Wars" seems complete until the Millennium Falcon (or a rival ship) uses its hyperdrive. And many "Star Trek" fans like to talk about the relative speed of the USS Enterprise star jump system compared to other Federation ships.
But in real life, physics is an obstacle. Einstein's theory of special relativity puts essentially a speed limit on the cosmic journey; as far as we know, nothing goes faster than the speed of light. Worse still, any mass object tends to become more and more massive – dragging along its speed – as the speed of light approaches. So, to our knowledge, only small particles can approach the speed of light.
One hundred years ago, on May 29, 1919, scientists performed measurements of a solar eclipse that confirmed the work of Einstein. To celebrate, NASA has offered particles three ways to accelerate at an incredible speed in a new statement.
Related: Why do not we still have a Hyperdrive "Star Wars"?
Electromagnetic fields
The sun is a crazy environment to study physics because it is so extreme compared to the Earth. It is also a real laboratory showing how nuclear reactions take place. It's also an example of the environment with electromagnetic fields – which, as NASA points out, is the same force that keeps magnets from falling out of your fridge.
Magnetic fields and electric fields work together to accelerate particles with an electric charge. This charge allows electromagnetic fields to push the particles, sometimes at speeds close to the speed of light.
We can even simulate this process on Earth. Huge particle accelerators (such as at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory of the Ministry of Energy or at the European Organization for Nuclear Research) Large Hadron Collider) to create pulsed electromagnetic fields. These fields accelerate charged particles close to the speed of light. Next, scientists often crush these particles to see what particles and energy are released.
In fractions of a second after these collisions, we can quickly observe elementary particles that were present in the first few seconds after formation of the universe. (This event, called the Big Bangit happened about 13.8 billion years ago.)
Magnetic explosions
The sun is also the host of phenomena called solar flares. Dancing above the surface of the sun is a tangle of magnetic fields. Sometimes these fields intersect and break, projecting plumes of solar material out of the surface – and sometimes loading particles at the same time.
"When the tension between the crossed lines gets too strong, the lines break and realign explosively in a process called magnetic reconnection," NASA officials said in a statement. "The rapid change in the magnetic field of a region creates electric fields, which causes the elimination of all charged particles that compose it at high speeds."
The particles projected by the sun can accelerate at a speed close to that of the light projected by the sun thanks to the magnetic reconnection. An example of such objects is the solar wind, the constant flow of charged particles emitted by the sun into the solar system. (There may also be other factors accelerating these particles, such as wave-particle interactions – which is explained in the next section of this article.)
Magnetic reconnection also occurs on large planets, such as Jupiter and Saturn. Closer to home, NASA is studying magnetic reconnection near Earth with the help of Multi-scale magnetospheric mission, which measures the magnetic field of our planet using four spaceships. The results could be useful for better understanding particle acceleration throughout the universe, NASA officials said.
Wave-particle interactions
Particles can also dissolve at high speed when electromagnetic waves collide; this phenomenon is more technically called the wave-particle interactions.
"When electromagnetic waves collide, their fields can compress, charged particles bouncing between the waves can gain energy, just like a ball that bounces between two walls." fusion, "said NASA officials.
These interactions take place everywhere in the universe. Near the Earth, NASA missions such as the Van Allen probes monitor wave-particle interactions to better predict particle motion and protect the electronics of satellites. Indeed, high speed particles can damage these delicate components of the spacecraft.
Supernovas, or explosions of stars, can also play a role in more distant interactions. The researchers hypothesized that a star, an explosion, creates an explosive wave – a layer of dense, hot compressed gas – that moves away from the stellar nucleus at high speed. These bubbles are full of charged particles and magnetic fields, creating a likely environment for wave-particle interactions. This process can eject cosmic rays of high energy – which consist of particles – at speeds close to the speed of light.
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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