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
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
Postdoctoral researcher Deanne Coppejans was the Northwestern media contact for the 2017 total solar eclipse. Here she is describing the science of the eclipse on NBC Chicago.
NBC Chicago
These are massive black hole mergers from the Illustris1 large-scale cosmological simulation (Kelley et al 2017). Gravitational wave bursts from the final merger of each black hole pair are shown with the color representing their initial strength.
Michael Katz / Northwestern
Gallery of Andromeda Star Clusters from Andromeda Project Catalog
Johnson et al. 2015
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
“Hot Jupiters” are Jupiter-like planets with orbits close to their host star. Their origins are debated, and some young planetary system may even host multiple Hot Jupiters. Here, we investigate a planetary system of two Hot Jupiters orbiting a Sun-like star. The system is born on the edge of instability, and over time, the planets’
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
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
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
A screenshot from Firefly, an interactive, web-based, and publicly available particle visualization platform created by Aaron Geller and Alex Gurvich. Shown here is a snapshot in time from a simulation of a Milky Way-like galaxy with the stars in blue, the gas in red, and the dark matter in yellow. In the real universe the gas
Aaron Geller / Alex Gurvich / Northwestern
In this movie, the color of each pixel represents the temperature of the gas (blue for cold and green for hot) and the brightness of each pixel represents the density (dim for low density bright for high density). Thus diffuse and hot gas looks like a hazy green mist while cold and dense gas looks
Alex Gurvich / Northwestern
Marked on this ALMA image are the locations and orientations of 11 gas outflows, which look like the bipolar lobes made by young protostars. These outflows are all within about 3 light-years of our galaxy’s supermassive black hole, marked with a star. Outflow #1 has the most obvious structure; the rest don’t show up well
ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), Yusef-Zadeh et al.; B.Saxton (NRAO/AUI/NSF)
This collection of images shows gas swirling around the same galaxy in several different ways. Taken together, the columns create a time-lapse projection. The top row shows the density of gas in the galaxy at a given time: in these panels, the brightest areas show where gas is most densely concentrated. In the middle row,
Zachary Hafen, CIERA/Northwestern University
Still image from a simulation of black holes inside a globular cluster. Learn more and view movies here.
Carl Rodriguez/Northwestern Visualization (Justin Muir, Matt McCrory, Michael Lannum)
Most stars are born together in families of hundreds to thousands, known as star clusters. Over time, the pull of gravity from the galaxy can overcome the gravitational bond holding the family of stars together, shredding the star cluster apart. In this image, the lines show the paths of individual stars in a computer model
A. M. Geller and M. SubbaRao. CIERA/Northwestern
Gas-rich “proto-planetary” disks surround young, still forming stars, feeding them through accretion of dust and gas. These are the birthplaces of planetary systems. This image shows a simulation of a possible gas disk progenitor for the real exoplanetary system HR8799. Today, HR8799 has four, six-Jupiter-mass planets, 30 million years into their lives, surrounded by a
Aaron M. Geller and A. Dempsey. Simulation performed by A. Dempsey. CIERA/Northwestern
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 image, the binary system consists of a main sequence star like our sun, and a neutron star 1.4 times more
Northwestern. Stellar simulation by Vicky Kalogera, Bart Willems and Francesca Valsecchi. Visualization by Matthew McCrory.
