This is the longest time-lapse footage of an exoplanet to date, all made with real data. Beta Pictoris b is a 12 Jupiter mass planet orbiting its star at a distance of 10 AU (10x Earth-Sun distance) on a near-edge on orbit. The first image of the planet was obtained in 2003. However, the planet’s
A Northwestern University-led team of researchers developed the first 3D simulations of energy rippling from a massive star’s core to its outer surface. Using these new models, the researchers determined, for the first time, how much stars should innately twinkle. The team converted these rippling waves of gas into sound waves, enabling listeners to hear
A 31.5 solar-mass black hole with an 8.38 solar-mass black hole companion viewed in front of its (computer generated) stellar nursery prior to merging. The distant band of the Milky Way can be seen toward the lower-left of the black hole pair. Light is warped nearby the black holes due to their strong gravity. The
Aaron M. Geller / Northwestern CIERA & NUIT-RCS; ESO / S. Brunier
Graduate student Imran Sultan’s photo of the recently visible supernova (SN2023ixf) in the pinwheel galaxy M101. The image was taken overnight, May 20-21, 2023 about 70 miles outside of Chicago. Imran used an 80mm refractor and a DSLR on a star tracker.
Imran Sultan
Graduate student Imran Sultan’s photo of the recently visible supernova (SN2023ixf) in the pinwheel galaxy M101. The image was taken overnight, May 20-21, 2023 about 70 miles outside of Chicago. Imran used an 80mm refractor and a DSLR on a star tracker.
Imran Sultan
Two populations of filaments, perpendicular and parallel to the galactic plane, which runs horizontally. Professor Farhad Yusef-Zadeh discovered the vertical filaments in the 1980s. He discovered the horizontal filaments recently and the news was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters on June 2, 2023. Continue to the full CIERA news story.
Farhad Yusef-Zadeh/Northwestern University/CIERA
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
Ore Gottlieb/Northwestern/CIERA
On May 27, 2023, CIERA Research Assistant Professor Aaron Geller and former NSF Graduate Fellow Alex Gurvich were featured on the American Astronomical Society (AAS) Journal Author Series to showcase Firefly, their new browser-based interactive tool for visualizing 3D particle data sets. Geller and Gurvich were interviewed by the AAS’s Frank Timmes. Read the full news story
On Friday, May 19, 2023, Northwestern Professor Allison Strom presented CIERA’s 2nd annual Astronomy Night Out to a crowd of 165 community members. Prof Strom’s lecture “Sequencing the DNA of Galaxies with JWST“, detailed how she and her team are using NASA’s Webb Space Telescope and its powerful infrared instruments to uncover the mysteries behind some of our
New 3D computer simulations created by graduate student Fulya Kıroğlu show the eating habits of intermediate-mass black holes, which have yet to be discovered in observations. When a star approaches an intermediate-mass black hole, it initially gets caught in the black hole’s orbit. Every time the star makes a lap, the black hole takes a
Fulya Kiroglu/Northwestern/CIERA
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.
“Dance of the Black Holes” is an original composition by CIERA Post-Baccalaureate Research Fellow Darsan Swaroop Bellie (on drums) and the debut performance of the Star Eyes Initiative. The performance took place during the CIERA-hosted LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration meeting networking event on March 15, 2023. Composer’s Notes below: Focusing on a binary black hole system, the
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
The Department of Physics and Astronomy at Northwestern University engages in exciting, world-leading research in physics and astronomy and attracts a diverse, motivated community of scientists and teachers. The department offers graduate and undergraduate students an engaging learning environment and post-doctoral researchers fascinating research in areas like condensed matter physics, astrophysics and superconducting technologies. The
Professor David Bercovici presents an Interdisciplinary Colloquium on March 30, 2023, organized by Northwestern University’s Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics. Read the full CIERA News story here.
Professor Edwin Kite presents an Interdisciplinary Colloquium on February 21, 2023, organized by Northwestern University’s Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics. Read the full CIERA News story here.
New research suggests that a lack of a stable asteroid belt around these common, small, and cool stars may make their exoplanets less habitable for life. This edition of SETI Live features a conversation with lead researcher Anna C. Childs to explore the implications of this research and the future of the search for alien
SETI Institute
Discovered in March by astronomers using the Zwicky Transient Facility’s wide-field survey camera at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was last visible in the night sky during the Stone Age — about 50,000 years ago.
Imran Sultan
