For Students
It has been suggested that the universe originated as a violent explosion about 13.8 billion years ago and initially consisted of a fireball of completely ionized hydrogen plasma. Irrespective of the truth of this, there is little matter in the universe now that does not exist in the plasma state. The observed stars are composed of plasmas, as are interstellar and interplanetary media and the outer atmospheres of planets. Scientific knowledge of the universe has come primarily from studies of electromagnetic radiation emitted by plasmas and transmitted through them and, since the 1960s, from space probes within the solar system. ...(100 of 8397 words)