The image shows a vertical cross-section taken from a 3D stellar simulation run on the DiRAC Memory Intensive Service. It is possible to see the turbulent motions of the plasma inside the star and how the chemical composition is transported and mixed, represented by the abundance of neon in colour scale (red more abundant, blue less abundant). This snapshot shows how the turbulent motions brings neon-rich material (dark red plumes) from the top stable region into the turbulent region via a process called entrainment.
Running and analysing stellar multi-dimensional simulations help us understand hidden aspects of important astrophysical processes, such as the evolution and fate of stars, their explosions and collapse to neutron starts and black holes, but also the stellar production of chemical elements (called nucleosynthesis) and their later expulsion to form new stars, planets and other celestial objects.
