NCSA NEWS

Imagine two objects the size of small cities and with mass equivalent to that of the Sun. The objects are spiraling toward each other across light-years of space. Their spirals accelerate over several million years, reaching 60,000 RPMs in the milliseconds before they collide. The collision is violent beyond belief.

This series of images of the final orbit of two neutron stars before they collide and merge is countering accepted notions of where most gravitational radiation is emitted during this final, dramatic stage. Instead of originating primarily from the stars' centers, where matter is densest (red), this simulation shows fully 99 percent of the radiation emanating from the region interior to the blue cloudlike isosurface, where density is comparatively low (light green to blue).

This simulation was created by Alan Calder and David Bock at NCSA and Alliance partners Doug Swesty and Ed Wang at SUNY Stony Brook. These researchers are the first to investigate the locations of gravitational radiation emissions -- information that is important for confirming the existence of stellar collisions. The emission pattern serves as a fingerprint against which scientists can compare patterns detected by space observatories. No match, no confirmation. And perhaps, no collision.

Access Online | Posted 3-9-1999