There are videos of ballistic missiles being intercepted out of the atmosphere that create a “bubble” going around. I’m not sure if this qualifies into chemistry or physics sorry
In: Chemistry
Plasma is super heated gas, like when a lightning bolt passes through the air https://youtu.be/NQiqXdEHL_Q release enough energy in intercepting a missile and you can create plasma.
Plasma is matter heat do a temperature so high that electrons deatach from the atoms. There is enough energy in man explosion to result in this.
Lower down in the atmosphere there is a lot of gas hot gas/plasma is limited in how far it car travel because of interaction with the rest of the atmosphere. Add to that the interaction cool down the material. At high altitude there is almost nothing there so the material can travel further and it warm longer.
You see the same effect with exhaust from the engines of a rocket. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjWpcv1vT-8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjWpcv1vT-8)
That it is a sphere is because the matter moving in all direction after a explosion and at similar speed and the result is a expanding shell.
The force of the impact is simply hard enough to create enough energy to superheat the gas cloud. Its because both the missile and what shot it down were going so fast in opposite directions and the forces add up.
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