Author(s)

Michael C. Kelley, Eugene Dao, Carolyn Kuranz, Hans Stenbaek-Nielsen

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In this paper, we describe three different phenomena occurring on scales of 1 mm, 100 km, and almost a light year. The smallest scale is a laboratory experiment. The intermediate scale is a rocket-borne space experiment and the largest is an exploding star. In each case, deceleration creates a situation that is unstable to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability. The similarity exists in the spatial and in the Fourier domains; that is, not only are there obvious spatial similarities but the power spectra of the two phenomena are also nearly identical. The data compare favorably to published simulations.

Rayleigh-Taylor Instability, Decelerating Fluid, Exploding Star, Active Experiment

M. Kelley, E. Dao, C. Kuranz and H. Stenbaek-Nielsen, "Similarity of Rayleigh-Taylor Instability Development on Scales from 1 mm to One Light Year," International Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Vol. 1 No. 4, 2011, pp. 173-176. doi: 10.4236/ijaa.2011.14022.