Shock diamonds appear in the exhaust plume of rockets or jets when the engine releases exhaust at supersonic speed, creating alternating light and dark patches.
When exhaust leaves the engine, its pressure may be lower than the surrounding atmospheric pressure.
The atmosphere compresses the exhaust until the pressures equalize, leading to a seesaw-like process.
As the exhaust expands and compresses multiple times, it forms waves in the plume. These waves create the shock diamond pattern.
When the exhaust pressure increases and bends inward, it heats up and causes combustion, which creates bright spots—these are the shock diamonds.
The exhaust's inward and outward bending produces shock waves, forming the alternating light and dark patterns that make up shock diamonds.
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