Skip to main content

Gallery

Dynamical Evolution of Star Clusters

Video

Dynamical Evolution of Star Clusters

This movie, Life of the Pleiades, was generated from an interactive visualization that Aaron Geller developed with Mark SubbaRao using Uniview. The interactive version can be shown on a planetarium dome, or rendered into a movie (as shown here). A 3D version of this movie exists in the Space Visualization Lab at the Adler Planetarium.

Created by A. M. Geller and M. SubbaRao, using Uniview; music, narration and audio by A. M. Geller; dynamical calculation with stellar evolution performed using the NBODY6 code.

A 10 Solar Mass Star

Video

A 10 Solar Mass Star

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

Credit: Stellar simulation by Vicky Kalogera, Bart Willems and Francesca Valsecchi. Visualization by Matthew McCrory. Funding: NSF and LIGO

Neutron Star & White Dwarf Binary

Video

Neutron Star & White Dwarf Binary

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

Stellar simulation by Vicky Kalogera, Bart Willems and Francesca Valsecchi. Visualization by Matthew McCrory. / Funding: NSF and LIGO

Evolution of the Color Magnitude Diagram of a Star Cluster

Video

Evolution of the Color Magnitude Diagram of a Star Cluster

This is a movie of the evolving color-magnitude diagram from the N-body model of the old open cluster NGC 188. Binaries are plotted with blue points, and show the combined light of the unresolved system. Single stars are plotted in black points. The dynamical and stellar evolution calculations were performed using NBODY6, with some modifications

Movie by Aaron Geller using IDL and MPEG Streamclip; dynamical and stellar evolution calculations performed with NBODY6 / Funding: NSF

Radiative-hydrodynamic Simulation of a Dusty Cloud Irradiated by a Quasar

Image

Radiative-hydrodynamic Simulation of a Dusty Cloud Irradiated by a Quasar

The figure shows a radiative-hydrodynamic simulation of a dusty cloud irradiated by a quasar (located at r = 0). Radiation pressure is set to be the dominant pressure source. Left panel shows the initial conditions, while the right panel shows the cloud 10^4 years after exposure to the quasar radiation. A quasi-static density gradient develops at

Jonathan Stern in collaboration with J. Onorbe.

Cataclysmic Variable stars

Image

Cataclysmic Variable stars

Cataclysmic Variable stars (CVs) are binary star systems where an ultra-dense star (a white dwarf) pulls material off of its companion star, steadily consuming it over time. Depending on how strong the magnetic field strength of the white dwarf is, this material might be channelled down onto the surface of the white dwarf via magnetic

Deanne Coppejans / Northwestern

Mass Loss Velocity

Image

Mass Loss Velocity

Massive stars end their lives in powerful explosions (supernovae) that span a wide range of energies and properties. The most powerful of these are the appropriately named Superluminous Supernovae (SLSNe). As SLSNe are so bright and energetic, we can see them out to great distances in the universe, and they could prove to be very

Deanne Coppejans / Northwestern

Hubble Image Mosaic of Andromeda

Image

Hubble Image Mosaic of Andromeda

Hubble Image Mosaic of Andromeda, based on PHAT survey data. This image, captured with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, is the largest and sharpest image ever taken of the Andromeda galaxy, otherwise known as M31. You would need more than 600 HD television screens to display the whole image. It is the biggest Hubble image

NASA / ESA, J. Dalcanton, B.F. Williams, L.C. Johnson, PHAT team and R. Gendler

Black Hole Encounter

Image

Black Hole Encounter

In late 2015, LIGO discovered gravitational waves emitted by two black holes (each with a mass of about 30 times that of our Sun) that spiraled together and merged about 1.5 billion years ago. Astrophysicists are now debating which is the most likely mechanism that can bring two black holes like those observed so close

Image created by A. M. Geller. Monte Carlo globular cluster simulation performed by S. Chatterjee using the Northwestern CMC code. Black hole ray tracing simulation performed by A. Geller using GeoViS.

Firefly Demonstration

Video

Firefly Demonstration

Firefly is a portable web-based 3d visualization software developed in partnership between the Northwestern University Galaxy Formation and Visualization groups. It was developed with the data output of the FIRE simulations in mind but can visualize any 3d dataset (in coordinate or phase space). In this video I demonstrate some of the key features of

Aaron Geller / Alex Gurvich / Northwestern

Galaxy Evolution

Image

Galaxy Evolution

Here we show the evolution of a Milky Way-like galaxy over time. The top row shows the galaxy as it would appear today, the middle 3.5 billion years ago, and the bottom almost 10 billion years ago. Columns give different views of the same snapshot in time, leftmost is the mock view through the Hubble

Alex Gurvich / Northwestern