The formation of supersonic, radiatively cooled plasma jets with applications to laboratory astrophysics has been an active area of research on the MAGPIE generator. One of the ways of producing astrophysically-relevant jets in the laboratory is by using the ablation of plasma from a radial foil Z-pinch. In this configuration a ~1.4 MA, 250 ns current pulse is introduced into an aluminium disk with a thickness of 15 μm. The ablated plasma from the foil converges on the axis, producing a steady and collimated jet with a typical axial velocity of ~100 km/s. The setup allows for the addition of argon above the foil for jet-ambient interaction studies. The interaction is characterised by the formation of several shock features, which are presented and discussed from experimental data and numerical simulations.

Properties of radiatively cooled supersonic plasma jets formed by ablation of thin Al foils driven by 1.4 MA, 250 ns current pulse are presented. The jets are highly collimated with half-opening angles of ~2°. Measurements of the flow velocity (~60 km/s) and plasma temperature (~15 eV) in the jet with Thomson scattering diagnostic give internal Mach number of M ~ 3, suggesting additional collimation of the jet by toroidal magnetic fields.

Hypersonic, collimated jets are being lately intensively studied in Earth laboratories, trying to reproduce some of the physical properties of a subclass of astrophysical jets that are the Herbig-Haro (HH) jets. These jets are produced in the regions around Young Stellar Objects (YSOs), that are proto-stars located inside galactic Giant Molecular Clouds. In addition to the novel experimental approach, HH or YSO jets have been object of interest by the astrophysical community since a few decades and studied by means of observations at different wavelengths and analytical and numerical modeling. We present laboratory experiments and 2D numerical simulations of hypersonic jets, comparing the results of experiments and simulations that reproduce the evolution of the above mentioned jets. The experimental flows match two main scaling parameter requirements for proto-stellar jets, i.e. the ejection Mach number M and the jet/ambient density ratio η. In particular, η goes from slightly underdense to overdense values. Furthermore, as a development of previous works, we consider here the dependence of the jet structure and morphology on the Mach number, in the range 10 to 15.

Accretion flows on the surface of a star is modeled using a high resolution hydrodynamic 1D ALE code (ASTROLABE) coupled to radiative transfer and line cooling, along with a model for the acoustic heating of the chromospheric plasma.

In order to improve the understanding of the physics of accretion shocks around young stellar objects, we have performed a three dimensional simulation of a radiative shock generated in a laser installation. We depict the 3D structure of such a shock. Radiation hydrodynamics is modeled with the HERACLES code; then, radiative transfer post-processing is performed with the IRIS code.

Strongly radiative shocks are characterized by an ionization front induced by the shock wave. The role played together by opacity and geometry is critical for the physics of these shock waves. Moreover, radiation is an obvious way of probing these shock waves, either by self-emission or by probe absorption. These aspects will be illustrated by recent experimental results obtained at the iodine PALS (Prague Asterix Laser System) facility.

Presented is a brief review of firsthand laboratory experiments with the use of fast rotating shallow water for simulation of important 2D objects and phenomena of astrophysical fluid dynamics, which alternatively can only be studied theoretically, computationally and very rarely through astronomical observations. Among them are sheared supersonic rotation, instabilities of flows at such rotation, vortical solitary waves, turbulence, and wave over-reflection

In the context of high energy density laboratory astrophysics, we aim to produce and study a rotating plasma relevant to accretion discs physics. We devised an experimental setup based on a modified cylindrical wire array and we studied it numerically with the three-dimensional, resistive magneto-hydrodynamic code GORGON. The simulations show that a rotating plasma cylinder is formed, with typical rotation velocity ~35 km/s and Mach number ~5. In addition, the plasma ring is differentially rotating and strongly radiatively cooled. The introduction of external magnetic fields is discussed.

The most primitive chondrites and comets have undergone few modifications during the 4.56 billion years of the Solar System and can deliver to laboratories the components that witnessed the origin of the protosolar nebula. These components include organics, water and other volatile components that were formed in the parent molecular cloud of the solar system or during the protosolar epoch. This paper focuses on organic matter, water and noble gases contained in carbonaceous chondrites with a special emphasis on opened questions that could be assessed by laboratory experiments in order to shed new light on the origin of the solar system materials and planets.

Irradiation by cosmic ions plays a relevant role in the “space weathering” of solid materials in the airless bodies (rocky and/or icy objects) in the Solar System. Here, I discuss about some of the effects that have been studied in “simulation” experiments with a view to their astrophysical relevance. In particular I review some experimental results obtained so far after irradiation of relevant materials, namely: sputtering, ion implantation, and chemical synthesis of molecular species different from the original ones. All of those effects are accomplished by changes in the optical properties of irradiated layers and then of the color of the surfaces of the airless bodies. Some specific examples of the application of the experimental results to the physics and chemistry of planetary surfaces are discussed as well.

We compare spectroscopic data of irradiated laboratory analogs with those of an interplanetary dust particle of cometary origin. We investigate if this comparison can help constraining the origin of carbonaceous materials on small icy bodies in the outer Solar System (TNOs, Centaurs, etc.). We suggest that Raman spectroscopy can help in interpreting the observed heterogeneity of the extraterrestrial carbonaceous component and in constraining the irradiation dose accumulated in space.

We report here on the coupling of a gas reactor with a VUV beamline at the SOLEIL synchrotron radiation facility. The reactor may be irradiated window-less with gas pressure up to the atmosphere. The photochemistry is monitored by a mass spectrometer gas analyzer. This set up, termed APSIS for Atmospheric Photochemistry SImulated by Synchrotron, has been used to simulate the atmosphere of Titan and to study the formation of the photochemical smog and the formation of tholins.

Ice grains are ejected whenever gases are flowing from gas-laden amorphous ice upon its warming-up. We elucidated the mechanism of gas trapping when flowing onto a gas-free ice layer. The observations on ice grain ejection from comets, Enceladus, Triton and the Martian South Polar region are explained as well.

It is widely believed that planets form in accretion discs by the growth of small dust and ice grains. To verify the scenarios of protoplanetary disc processes including the transport of material in vertical as well as in radial direction, it is crucial to understand the interaction of small dust and ice particles with their surroundings, i.e., with the gas, star light, and other ice and dust particles. In first laboratory experiments, we observe trapped irregular-shaped water-ice particles which levitate up to half an hour in a vacuum chamber at a pressure of about 2 mbar due to photophoresis and thermophoresis. While they are firmly levitating, they rotate preferentially about their vertical axis. The physics leading to the levitation is explained and the results of an analysis of the particle rotation are presented.

The formation of preplanetary bodies is studied in laboratory experiments, especially the growth of decimeter bodies. As these macroscopic bodies are the building blocks for many growth models, it is very important to investigate possible formation processes and the mechanical properties of large dust agglomerates. Here, experimental results on the properties of decimeter-sized dust agglomerates and results of impact experiments at large collision velocities are presented. Fragmentation is a key process to growth at high velocities as energy is dissipated. Growth is observed for velocities up to 56 m/s and impact angles of up to 45°.

Inclusion compounds made of a water ice network, clathrate hydrates, are investigated by infrared spectroscopy. Because they can trap important “guest” volatiles species, they may influence the equilibrium, exchange and flux of volatiles in many bodies of the solar system. Their spectroscopic behaviour at low temperature (10–200 K) are shown and the search for their signatures by comparison to solar system objects remote spectra are discussed.

Facilities for studying gas-solid interactions on beamline I11 at the Diamond Light Source are described. Sample evolution in low and high gas pressure capillary cells (1 × 10-7 to 100 bar) with non-contact cooling and heating (80 to 1273 K) can be monitored structurally (X-rays) and spectroscopically (Raman). First results on the dehydration of MgSO4.7H2O, the formation of CO2 clathrate hydrate and the reaction of amorphous CaSiO3 grains with CO2 gas to form CaCO3 are presented to demonstrate the application of these cells to laboratory investigations involving the processing of cosmic dust simulants and planetary materials analogues.

A more complete view of a magnetosphere of a close orbit giant exoplanet, so called “Hot Jupiter”, based on the Paraboloid Magnetospheric Model (PMM), is proposed. The key element of the considered model consists in taking into account the effects of an expanding upper atmosphere of a Hot Jupiter heated and ionized by the stellar XUV radiation. As a result, an extended magnetodisk is built around the planet. The magnetic field produced by magnetodisk ring currents, dominates above the contribution of intrinsic magnetic dipole of a Hot Jupiter and finally determines the size and shape of the whole magnetosphere.

Our aim is to present new unified line profiles of sodium perturbed by H2 from the optical to the infrared spectral range. We compare the specific results obtained for the 3s-3p transition to laboratory spectra.

This contribution lays out the scientific foundations of the project ExoMol. This project will produce molecular line lists for all molecules considered to be important for the modelling atmospheres of exoplanets and cool stars, which are prerequisites for the spectroscopic characterization of the atmospheres of these astrophysical objects. Towards this end 25 species are identified as key ones for meeting current demands for atmospheric models of exoplanets and brown dwarfs, impeded by the lack of fundamental data on the absorption of these species. The production of comprehensive and very large rotation-vibration and rotation-vibration-electronic line lists requires a mixture of first principles quantum mechanical methods and empirical tuning based on laboratory spectroscopic data. ExoMol will rely on these methodologies and make extensive use of state-of-the-art computing.