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Final Flight of a Neutron Star Pair

Interactive

Final Flight of a Neutron Star Pair

This interactive allows you to investigate possible past lives of the two neutron stars that merged in an event called GW170817 in the galaxy NGC 4993. The pair of stars—a neutron star and a normal star—orbit quietly, until the normal star undergoes a supernova, spawning a second neutron star and “kicking” the system into an elliptical orbit.

LIGO-Virgo / Aaron Geller / Northwestern

  • Education,
  • Science

Audience Questions from Peering into the Cosmic Maelstrom

Interview / Event

Audience Questions from Peering into the Cosmic Maelstrom

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.  

CIERA / Northwestern

  • Event,
  • Science,
  • Outreach,
  • Education

How many merger binary black holes are there?

Image

How many merger binary black holes are there?

How many merger binary black holes are there? There are lots of uncertainties in our understanding of stellar evolution. This plot shows one prediction from the COMPAS population synthesis code for the number of gravitational-wave detections:  there would be about 500 detections per year of observing time once our detectors reach design sensitivity! In Barrett, Gaebel,

Barrett, Gaebel, Neijssel, Vigna-Gómez, Stevenson, Berry, Farr, & Mandel (2018)

Source Galaxies for a Simulated Gravitational-wave Signal

Image

Source Galaxies for a Simulated Gravitational-wave Signal

This image shows the most probable source galaxies for a simulated gravitational-wave signal from a binary neutron star system. Accurately identifying the source of gravitational waves is extremely important for directing follow-up observations with telescopes, and for measuring the expansion of the Universe. In Del Pozzo, Berry, Ghosh, Haines, Singer & Vecchio (2018; http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018MNRAS.479..601D) we applied

Del Pozzo, Berry, Ghosh, Haines, Singer & Vecchio (2018)

APERTURE Telescope Conceptual Design Animation

Video

APERTURE Telescope Conceptual Design Animation

APERTURE: A Precise Extremely large Reflective Telescope Using Reconfigurable Elements. This is the deployment concept which was produced during the NIAC Phase I feasibility study. APERTURE is a UV-Visible telescope with a 16-m diameter primary mirror. The primary is a flexible membrane coated with magnetic smart material. The shape of the reflector can be corrected

Mel Ulmer / CIERA Northwestern

BLAST-TNG

Image

BLAST-TNG

Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope – The Next Generation (BLAST-TNG) BLAST is a 5,000 pound balloon-borne telescope bound for the stratosphere over Antarctica, to search for the origins of stars and planets. This photo was taken by graduate student Paul Williams in the summer of 2018 in Palestine, Texas at the Columbia Scientific Ballooning Facility.

Gabriele Coppi / University of Pennsylvania

Revealing the Lives of Stars Through the Cataclysmic Collisions of Black Holes

Event

Revealing the Lives of Stars Through the Cataclysmic Collisions of Black Holes

Northwestern Physics and Astronomy student Mike Zevin presents a talk as part of the Northwestern Ready Set Go (RSG) program. The goals of the program are to increase awareness for the urgent need for excellent research communicators and to coach graduate and post doctoral researchers to improve their own presentation skills. The program focuses on three important

Northwestern's RSG Program

Balloons Above Antarctica: The Coolest Place to Put a Telescope

Event

Balloons Above Antarctica: The Coolest Place to Put a Telescope

Northwestern Physics and Astronomy student Paul Williams presents a talk as part of the Northwestern Ready Set Go (RSG) program. The goals of the program are to increase awareness for the urgent need for excellent research communicators and to coach graduate and post doctoral researchers to improve their own presentation skills. The program focuses on three important

Northwestern's RSG Program

Listening for Colliding Black Holes

Interview

Listening for Colliding Black Holes

Northwestern Physics and Astronomy student Michael Katz presents a talk as part of the Northwestern Ready Set Go (RSG) program. The goals of the program are to increase awareness for the urgent need for excellent research communicators and to coach graduate and post doctoral researchers to improve their own presentation skills. The program focuses on three important

Northwestern's RSG Program

Exploring the Invisible Universe with Computer Simulations

Event

Exploring the Invisible Universe with Computer Simulations

Northwestern Physics and Astronomy student Alex Gurvich presents a talk as part of the Northwestern Ready Set Go (RSG) program. The goals of the program are to increase awareness for the urgent need for excellent research communicators and to coach graduate and post doctoral researchers to improve their own presentation skills. The program focuses on three important

Northwestern's RSG Program

Exploring the Universe with Virtual Galaxies

Event

Exploring the Universe with Virtual Galaxies

Northwestern Physics and Astronomy student Zachary Hafen presents a talk as part of the Northwestern Ready Set Go (RSG) program. The goals of the program are to increase awareness for the urgent need for excellent research communicators and to coach graduate and post doctoral researchers to improve their own presentation skills. The program focuses on three important

Northwestern's RSG Program