Plasma (physics)

:This article is about plasma in the sense of an ionized gas. For other uses of the term, such as blood plasma, see plasma (disambiguation).

Common plasmas

Plasmas are the most common phase of matter. The entire visible universe outside the Solar System is plasma, since all we can see are stars. Since the space between the stars is filled with a plasma, although a very sparse one, essentially the entire volume of the universe is plasma. In the Solar System, the planet Jupiter accounts for most of the non-plasma, only about 0.1% of the mass and 10-15 of the volume within the orbit of Pluto.

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Commonly encountered forms of plasma include:

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• Artificially produced
• Inside fluorescent lamps (low energy lighting), neon signs
• Rocket exhaust
• The area in front of a spacecraft's heat shield during reentry into the atmosphere
• Fusion energy research
• The electric arc in an arc lamp or an arc welder
• Plasma ball (sometimes called a plasma sphere or plasma globe)
• Earth plasmas
• Flames (ie. fire)
• Lightning
• The ionosphere
• The polar aurorae
• Space and astrophysical
• The Sun and other stars (which are plasmas heated by nuclear fusion)
• The solar wind
• The Interplanetary medium (the space between the planets)
• The Interstellar medium (the space between star systems)
• The Intergalactic medium (the space between galaxies)
• The Io-Jupiter flux-tube
• Accretion disks
• Interstellar nebulae