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When massive stars collapse into black holes, they may create powerful outflows (or jets) of particles traveling close to the speed of light. New simulations model this process — from the time the star collapses into a black hole until the jet escapes. For the first time, the simulations show that the cocoon of stellar

Dr. Tyson Littenburg presents an Interdisciplinary Colloquium on April 13, 2023, organized by Northwestern University’s Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics. Read the full CIERA News story here.

The world is constantly shifting, with challenges and opportunities arising every day. Yesterday’s solutions may no longer be effective in today’s environment. At Northwestern, we transform what we’ve learned yesterday to create whole new avenues for tomorrow. Learn more Transforming Research

Vicky Kalogera is a professor of physics and astronomy at Northwestern University and Director of the CIERA Center – leading research, studying the cosmos and making new discoveries. This interview is a special Women’s History Month 2021 segment for CBS Chicago.

On October 28, 2020 CIERA’s Shane Larson presented this public lecture titled A Storm of Stars: A Living History of the Milky Way in a virtual Zoom webinar format to an audience of nearly 450 viewers. Larson discussed how we came to understand the Milky Way, our home galaxy, and how our ideas about the

Episode 8 of the documentary series “LIGO: The Discovery that Shook the World” features CIERA Director Vicky Kalogera discussing the science of future LIGO instruments (the detectors that observe gravitational waves). All 8 episodes can be found on YouTube.  

Emmy-award winning television writer and former political operative Eli Attie interviewed by CIERA Director, Vicky Kalogera, in the McCormick Auditorium, on science in the world of pop culture, as part of 2019 NSF Research Traineeship National Meeting.

CIERA Director, Vicky Kalogera, discusses encouraging young scientists to pursue research with the National Foundation of Science (NSF).

Dr. Beth Willman, Deputy Director of the National Center for Optical-Infrared Astronomy, continued CIERA’s Interdisciplinary Colloquia series this November in presenting her talk, The Most Magnificent Map Ever Made. Hosted by CIERA director, Vicky Kalogera, Dr. Willman’s talk discussed the mission of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) and how it is possible for the

CIERA’s 10th annual public lecture was presented October 11, 2018 by director Vicky Kalogera. Kalogera’s talk–a glimpse into the years of fascinating work conducted by CIERA–highlighted key discoveries and what they mean for the future of astronomy. Kalogera discussed the lives of stars, how their influence on the Cosmos has changed in the recent decade,

Black holes may hold the key to understanding the most fundamental truths of the universe, but how do you see something that’s, well, black? Astronomers think they have the answer. Thanks to a global array of radio telescopes that turn the Earth into a giant receiver, we may soon have the first picture of the

Filmed at the Chicago History Museum as part of The Phi Betta Kappa Society’s (En)Lightning Talks Chicago event series. Vicky Kalogera is a professor at Northwestern University, and the co-founder and director of CIERA.

CIERA director Vicky Kalogera discusses her work and the recent discovery of evidence of the existence of gravitational waves in the universe.

LIGO – Virgo discovery marks first cosmic event observed in both gravitational waves and light. Announcement made at the National Press Club, Washington, DC. Panel with representatives from various telescopes, begins at 51:21 (Please note that Marica Branchesi’s institutional affiliation is incorrectly indicated in the video. The correct affiliation for Dr. Branchesi is Gran Sasso

An international research collaboration, including four Northwestern University astronomers, is the first to detect the spectacular collision of two neutron stars in a nearby galaxy using both gravitational waves and light.

CIERA Director and Northwestern LIGO group lead Vicky Kalogera talks about the different types of waves astronomers have used throughout history to study the Universe. Now, we are in the age of “multi-messenger” astronomy. This means that different types of waves from the same cosmic event can be studied.

CIERA Director Vicky Kalogera and Associate Director Shane Larson talk about the history of gamma ray bursts, and the theory that short gamma ray bursts are caused by collisions of neutron starts. Now, that puzzle is solved!

CIERA Director and Northwestern LIGO group lead Vicky Kalogera talks about how basic science is discovered and used in society.

Following the October 16, 2017 announcement of the first-ever observation of a binary neutron star inspiral and merger, Northwestern’s astronomy research center, CIERA, held a discussion with the Northwestern scientists behind the discovery. View the recording of this event in full, and join Professors Vicky Kalogera, Shane Larson, Raffaella Margutti and Wen-fai Fong as they

Following the October 16, 2017 announcement of the first-ever observation of a binary neutron star inspiral and merger, Northwestern’s astronomy research center, CIERA, held a discussion with the Northwestern scientists behind the discovery. View the panel discussion with Professors Vicky Kalogera, Raffaella Margutti, and Wen-fai Fong. Panel moderated by Adler Planetarium President & CEO, Michelle

After the spectacular collision of two neutron stars, which produced gravitational waves that were detected here on Earth, astronomers at Northwestern University describe how telescopes around the world looked for light.

An international research collaboration, including four Northwestern University astronomers, is the first to detect the spectacular collision of two neutron stars in a nearby galaxy using both gravitational waves and light.

What is a neutron star? What is it like when two neutron stars collide? Northwestern University astronomers describe the GW170817 merger of these massive objects in our Universe.  

Following the October 16, 2017 announcement of the first-ever observation of a binary neutron star inspiral and merger, Northwestern’s astronomy research center, CIERA, held a discussion with the Northwestern scientists behind the discovery. View the audience question & answer period from this event.  

About 130 million years ago, two neutron stars collided, unleashing an explosion that rippled space-time and splattered the cosmos with a cocktail of heavy metals. Astronomers announced that they spotted the signals from that “kilonova” explosion, both in gravitational waves like the ones LIGO previously detected from merging black holes, and in signals across the

This movie shows the evolution of a star 20 times more massive than our sun. The blue color of the star’s surface visible in the first frame is the result of this higher mass.

This movie shows the evolution of a star as massive as our sun. Each star spends most of its life in a phase known as the main sequence, during which it burns hydrogen into helium at its center and it slowly expands (as the reference circles show) to accommodate the energy produced via this nuclear

This movie shows the evolution of a star 10 times more massive than our sun. The blue color of the star’s surface visible in the first frame is the result of this higher mass. Each star spends most of its life in a phase known as the main sequence, during which it burns hydrogen into

This movie shows one of the possible evolutionary scenarios of a binary system. Binary systems are star systems comprising two stars orbiting around their common center of mass in a Keplerian orbit, which means that the two components are bound together by their mutual gravitational attraction. In this movie, the binary system consists of a