Most Detailed Simulation of Magnetic Turbulence in Space Is Surprisingly Beautiful

A new simulation of the galaxy’s magnetic turbulence shakes up how we think about—and visualize—the astrophysical environments. The model was developed by James Beattie, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto’s Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics and Princeton University, and collaborators from the U.S., Australia, and Europe. Described in a recent paper in Nature Astronomy, the model simulates space in high-definition—from volumes 30 light-years wide all the way down to tiny pockets scaled 5,000 times smaller. “This is the first time we can study these phenomena at this level of precision and at these different scales,” Beattie said in a university release. The simulation maps the chaotic dance of particles in the interstellar medium (ISM) with unprecedented precision. One aspect of the model is its ability to capture shifts in the interstellar medium’s density—from the near-emptiness of interstellar space to the dense clouds where stars are born. The magne ... Read full article.