When stars di‌e and explode, they create sho‌ckwaves around them. These powerful sho‌ckwaves shoot cosmic rays, or high-energy particles, into the universe. The waves work almost like particle accelerators, pushing them out so fast that they get close to the speed of light.

However, the problem is that scientists still do not fully understand exactly how and why sho‌ckwalls accelerate these particles.

"This is an intriguing problem, but because they are so far away, it is difficult to study," said Frederico Fiuza, senior scientist at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, USA.

To better study these mysterious cosmic sho‌ckwaves, scientists brought them ... to Earth. But not literally. In fact, researchers have created a miniature version of the supernova remnant.

"We are not trying to create supernova remnants in the lab, but we can learn more to confirm the models," Fiuza said.

Fiuza and his colleagues worked to create a rapidly spreading sho‌ckwave, which could mimic the situation that occurred after the supernova.

At the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory facility in California, the researchers fired intense lasers at carbon plates to create two plasma streams, aimed at each other. When the plasma stream collided, a sho‌ckwave was created under conditions similar to supernova remnants. Scientists have observed experiments using both optical and X-ray technology.

The researchers said they have verified that the sho‌ck is capable of accelerating electrons to near the speed of light. However, the mystery of exactly how these electrons achieve such a speed still forces scientists to turn to computer models.

"We can’t see details about how particles get their energy even in experiments, let alone astrophysical observations. This is where simulations really work." Anna Grassi, co-author of the new study highlighted.

Currently, while the cosmic mystery of the sho‌ck wave accelerator particles remains, the computer models created by Grassi have revealed a more viable solution. Following these models, Grassi has developed, chaotic electromagnetic fields in sho‌ck waves can accelerate electrons to an observable speed.

Fiuza, Grassi and their colleagues say they will continue to investigate the X-rays emitted by accelerated electrons and update their computer simulations.

In addition, the scientists also revealed that their future research will study positively charged protons, in addition to the electrons studied in this work, which are exploded by sho‌ckwaves.