
Twinkling star reveals the shocking secrets of turbulent plasma in our cosmic neighbourhood
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. We now realise our local interstellar medium is filled with these structures and our findings also include a rare phenomenon that will challenge theories of pulsar shock waves.