Modern computation generates data -- lots and lots of data. Obtaining scientific knowledge from the results requires synthesizing vast datasets into fundamental understanding. A single image is unrivaled in its ability to produce not only insight but also beauty, revealing as a distillate what otherwise remains impenetrably hidden: 'a picture is worth a thousand terabytes.'

In visualization many aesthetic choices must be made. While an image from a computer simulation or a vast dataset can be functional, it can also be aesthetic. Astrophysics is a discipline rich in natural beauty, from planets and stars to galaxies and the large-scale structure of the Universe.

This project is dedicated to the most arresting, most captivating, and most pioneering visualization efforts in computational astrophysics. The hope is to inspire and motivate work beyond the functional, and to capture the evolving language of design within the context of our humble corner of space.

Have a suggestion or an amazing example? Suggestions are always welcome.

Dylan Nelson

merging neutron stars

A pair of neutron stars colliding, merging and forming a black hole. Each neutron star squeezes slightly more than the mass of our sun into a volume about 20 kilometers across. Here, a merger with a mass ratio 1.7/1.4 start separated by a distance slightly larger than their diameters. At the moment shown, tides have deformed each star, a common envelope has formed, and the smaller companion is beginning to be disrupted.

Methods: density isosurfaces

date added Feb. 23, 2019

categories 3d, stellar

author Luciano Rezzolla

origin arxiv 1101.4298