> When charged particles moving faster than light travel in, for example, water, they perturb the energy equilibrium of the atoms that are in their way. In order to regain equilibrium, those atoms release photons – the types of particles that compose visible light, creating a “shock-wave” of visible light.
That's like the vaguest description of anything ever. Is physics a stealth startup?
Why does it specifically happen when particles travel faster than light in a given medium? There's no glow for particles moving slower?