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PIA16088: Laser Plasmas on Earth and Mars
This image shows laser plasmas in a test lab at Los Alamos National Laboratory, N.M., under typical atmospheric pressures on Earth and Mars. A plasma is an ionized, glowing gas.
 Mission:  Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) 
 Product Size:  1592 x 1032 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Los Alamos National Laboratory 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA16088.tif (4.931 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA16088.jpg (103.9 kB)  

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

This image shows laser plasmas in a test lab at Los Alamos National Laboratory, N.M., under typical atmospheric pressures on Earth and Mars. A plasma is an ionized, glowing gas. The pressure on the Red Planet is only about one percent of that at sea level on Earth, allowing the plasma to expand more and become brighter. The laser beam, which is invisible, crosses the image from the left and strikes a metal target, creating the plasmas. Each image covers about 3 by 3 inches (75 by 75 millimeters).

Image Credit:
LANL

Image Addition Date:
2012-08-22