Superdense Extraterrestrial Ice Formed in a Flash
Sarah Lewin, Space.com
In a new experiment, researchers have created a superdense version of ice found deep within icy moons and colliding comets, and watched it form in nanoseconds.The scientists created the ice by exposing ordinary water to a sudden, intense, laser-generated shock wave, and they observed the formation of the superdense phase of ice, called ice VII, using rapid X-ray pulses to document its nearly instantaneous phase change. The transformation took place at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory's Linac Coherent Light Source the world's most powerful X-ray laser.
In a new experiment, researchers have created a superdense version of ice found deep within icy moons and colliding comets, and watched it form in nanoseconds.The scientists created the ice by exposing ordinary water to a sudden, intense, laser-generated shock wave, and they observed the formation of the superdense phase of ice, called ice VII, using rapid X-ray pulses to document its nearly instantaneous phase change. The transformation took place at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory's Linac Coherent Light Source the world's most powerful X-ray laser.