Blast-wave–sphere interaction using a laser-produced plasma: An experiment motivated by supernova 1987A

We present x-ray shadowgraphs from a high Mach number ( approximately 20) laboratory environment that simulate outward flowing ejecta matter from supernovae that interact with ambient cloud matter. Using a laser-plastic foil interaction, we generate a "complex" blast wave (a supersonic flow containing forward and reverse shock waves and a contact discontinuity between them) that interacts with a high-density (100 times ambient) sphere. The experimental results, including vorticity localization, compare favorably with two-dimensional axisymmetric hydrodynamic simulations.