Fluid mechanics is at the heart of almost all astronomical research. In many cases, the conditions in astrophysical systems are such that supersonic flows are common. As a result, the most energetic phenomena in astronomy all involve some form of shock physics, often relativistic. It is believed that the emission from the brightest objects in the universe is powered by shocks. And because the universe is now cold, the accretion if gas by the largest structures in the unverse, galaxy clusters, involves enormous shock, on scales of millions of light years.
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