Fig. 1. VisRAD drawing shows the experimental assembly from the perspective of optical instruments, and the field of view of these instruments with approximate aim is overlaid. The instruments are set to capture from orthogonal angles the evolution of the high Mach-number laser plume when and where it meets the MIFEDS wire. We mark the target chamber center (TCC) and the pointing (H2) of the target positioning system in either view as spatial cues.

Fig. 2. Streak camera image of shot 75081 shows the progress of optical sources near the edge of the MIFEDS arc viewed face-on over a sweep time of 33 ns from initiation of the laser beams driving the plasma.

Fig. 3. Spatially extended view from the SOP combining streak images from shots 75080 and 75081 shows the interaction dynamics of observed emission features and their originating plasma flows.

Fig. 4. FLASH simulation results in the distribution through critical epochs show the evolution of emission sources localized to the hottest gas. The planar target is placed on-axis at the position, and the MIFEDS wire profile is centered at . We draw in a black curve to mark the depth of formation of the visible continuum as seen by an instrument viewing the plasma cylinder from the side. This curve also broadly traces the contact discontinuity between the plasma and pseudovacuum.

Fig. 5. Synthetic ROSS-SOP image replicating Figure 3 built by sweeping the sequence of axial photosphere temperature profiles, i.e., the black curves of Figure 4, through .