Astrophysical jets are a tremendous, elongated outpouring of plasma associated with star formation and dynamic galaxies. The dynamics of these is strongly influenced by the magnetic field configuration (although, inexplicably, this is somehow controversial!).
Two astrophysical jets associated with active galactic nuclei
In the above picture on the left a radio image (red and yellow) is superimposed on an optical V-band field (blue). Radio features include an unresolved "core" at the center of the parent galaxy, a partial jet to the south-west, extended hot spots in both lobes and fine-scale filaments throughout the lobes. The overall size of the radio source is about 370 kpc. In the right-hand picture the major features of are quite representative of structures seen in powerful radio galaxies -- elongated lobes filled with networks of filaments, bright hot spots near the outer parts of the lobes and a significant brightness asymmetry between the two jets.
The PBEX project at the UNM Plasma & Fusion Sciences Lab is an experiment designed to mimic many of the features of jets to try to understand how they form.
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