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

microlensing caustics

A microlensing magnification map, whereby individual images are magnified in a multiply-imaged quasar due to an ensemble of stellar-mass compact objects near the line of sight. Such a map is a statistical representation of the combined effects of an ensemble of microlenses, and is rendered as a discrete/pixelized image. As in this case, a network of caustics is commonly visible, representing regions of high magnification in the source plane.

date added April 3, 2019

categories b&w

author Giorgos Vernardos

origin gerlumph