In the video we show a zoom in from optical telescope images to the heart of the galaxy M87. There, a plasma of several billion degrees Celsius is swirling around the black hole at over a 3,600,000 km/h. This system is simulated on a supercomputer. Analyzing the simulation we can create an image of what the black hole should look like as seen from Earth. With the global EHT collaboration we were able to combine telescopes all around the world to create a single, Earth sized telescope, which can then observe the actual black hole. After the observation in April 2017 it took hundreds of scientists two years to create the final image presented in this video. This observational image can then be compared to the simulation of the black hole, and with this we can once again test Einsteins Theory of Relativity against reality.
The galaxy M87 is 55 million light years away or 52x10²⁰ km Its central black hole has a mass of 7.22 billion solar masses, or 1.4356x10³⁷ kg or 3.1651x10³⁷ lb
Link to our homepage: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ Link to our gallery: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/gallery/
In the video we show a zoom in from optical telescope images to the heart of the galaxy M87. There, a plasma of several billion degrees Celsius is swirling around the black hole at over a 3,600,000 km/h. This system is simulated on a supercomputer. Analyzing the simulation we can create an image of what the black hole should look like as seen from Earth. With the global EHT collaboration we were able to combine telescopes all around the world to create a single, Earth sized telescope, which can then observe the actual black hole. After the observation in April 2017 it took hundreds of scientists two years to create the final image presented in this video. This observational image can then be compared to the simulation of the black hole, and with this we can once again test Einsteins Theory of Relativity against reality.
The galaxy M87 is 55 million light years away or 52x10²⁰ km Its central black hole has a mass of 7.22 billion solar masses, or 1.4356x10³⁷ kg or 3.1651x10³⁷ lb
Link to our homepage: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ Link to our gallery: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/gallery/
Link to the Black Hole Cam Website: blackholecam.orgBlack hole - neutron star merger: Tidal disruptionRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2024-09-12 | The evolution of a black hole - neutron star binary system, with mass ratio q=4, using the DD2 equation of state, and with the neutron star mass of 1.4 solar masses. The black hole is rapidly rotating, with the dimensionless spin parameter equal to 0.8. The neutron star is disrupted and forms a massive tidal tail, which leaves behind a substantial amount of baryonic matter in the form of an accretion disc.
Authors: Morten Will, Konrad Topolski, Marie Cassing, Luciano RezzollaBlack hole - neutron star merger: PlungeRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2024-09-12 | The evolution of a black hole - neutron star binary system, with mass ratio q=4, using the DD2 equation of state, and with the neutron star mass of 1.4 solar masses. Both objects are irrotational. The neutron star enters the black hole essentially intact and there is no accretion disc formed.
Authors: Morten Will, Konrad Topolski, Marie Cassing, Luciano RezzollaBlack hole - neutron star merger: dependence on the mass ratioRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2024-09-10 | Evolution of a black hole - neutron star system as a function of binary mass ratio. The neutron stars are identical in each case, with mass equal to 1.4 solar masses and modeled with the DD2 equation of state. The dimensionless black hole spin parameter is set to 0.8 in each case. The ratio of the black hole to the neutron star mass from left to right is 5, 6 and 7, respectively. Larger mass asymmetries suppress tidal disruption, leading to the formation of less massive accretion disks.
Authors: Konrad Topolski, Samuel Tootle, Luciano RezzollaBlack hole - neutron star merger: dependence on the black hole spinRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2024-09-10 | Evolution of a black hole - neutron star system as a function of black hole spin. The neutron stars are identical in each case, with mass equal to 1.4 solar masses and modeled with the DD2 equation of state. The ratio of the black hole to the neutron star mass in each case is 4.The dimensionless black hole spin parameters from left to right are 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8, respectively. Higher prograde black hole spins leads to more prominent disruption events, for which more massive accretion discs are left.
Authors: Konrad Topolski, Samuel Tootle, Luciano RezzollaEvolution of Special Relativistic Turbulent PlasmaRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2023-02-17 | The movie shows the electron and proton number density, the trajectories, and the Lorentz factor of most energetic particles. The initial configuration corresponds to a plasma with magnetization sigma=1, plasma beta=10^-3, electron-to-proton temperature ratio Te/Tp = 1, and realistic mass ratio between electrons and protons, which is a representative simulation of a comprehensive campaign of two-dimensional kinetic particle-in-cell simulations of special-relativistic turbulence. The interaction between plasmoid islands produces multiple reconnection regions accelerating and heating the particles, producing non-thermal particles.
Credits: Claudio Meringolo, Alejandro Cruz-Osorio, Luciano Rezzolla and Sergio Servidio
Links: Relativistic Astrophysics group page: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ JETSET page: jetset-erc.org ELEMENTS page: https://elements.science
Code: Zeltron: https://ipag.osug.fr/~ceruttbe/Zeltron/index.htmlCrustal magnetic field amplification in BNS mergers: Co-rotating sources of magnetic energyRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2022-11-30 | The movie shows the merger and post-merger evolution of two equal mass neutron star binaries with a total mass of approximately 2.5 solar masses. The orbital rotation of the binary is counteracted by rotating by (half of) the phase angle of the gravitational wave strain, to achieve an approximately co-rotating frame. The 2D slices of the sources and sinks of magnetic-energy density are shown for the xy-plane. Red color coding shows the regions where the magnetic energy is increasing at the expense of the available kinetic energy while blue color coding shows the locations of decreasing magnetic energy corresponding to regions where the magnetic field is doing work on the fluid. The contours of constant baryonic density are shown in dashed (10^13 g cm^-3) and solid (7x10^14 g cm^-3) green lines. The two configurations differ by having different magnetic-field topologies, i.e. the left column shows the standard full-configuration with magnetic fields permeating the whole stellar structure while the right column shows the crust-configuration where magnetic fields are concentrated only in the crust after having been expelled from the core.
Credits: Michail Chabanov, Konrad Topolski, Samuel Tootle, Elias Most, Luciano Rezzolla
Links: Relativistic Astrophysics group page: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ JETSET page: jetset-erc.org ELEMENTS page: https://elements.scienceCrustal magnetic field amplification in BNS mergers: Co-rotating vorticityRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2022-11-28 | The movie shows the merger and post-merger evolution of two equal mass neutron star binaries with a total mass of approximately 2.5 solar masses. The orbital rotation of the binary is counteracted by rotating by (half of) the phase angle of the gravitational wave strain, to achieve an approximately co-rotating frame. The 2D slices of the density-weighted vorticity are shown for the xy-plane. The contours of constant baryonic density are shown in dashed (10^13 g cm^-3) and solid (7x10^14 g cm^-3) green lines. The two configurations differ by having different magnetic-field topologies, i.e. the left column shows the standard full-configuration with magnetic fields permeating the whole stellar structure while the right column shows the crust-configuration where magnetic fields are concentrated only in the crust after having been expelled from the core.
Credits: Michail Chabanov, Konrad Topolski, Samuel Tootle, Elias Most, Luciano Rezzolla
Links: Relativistic Astrophysics group page: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ JETSET page: jetset-erc.org ELEMENTS page: https://elements.scienceCrustal magnetic field amplification in BNS mergers: Co-rotating magnetic-field strengthRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2022-11-28 | The movie shows the merger and post-merger evolution of two equal mass neutron star binaries with a total mass of approximately 2.5 solar masses. The orbital rotation of the binary is counteracted by rotating by (half of) the phase angle of the gravitational wave strain, to achieve an approximately co-rotating frame. The 2D slices of the absolute magnetic-field strength are shown for the xy-plane. The contours of constant baryonic density are shown in dashed (10^13 g cm^-3) and solid (7x10^14 g cm^-3) green lines. The two configurations differ by having different magnetic-field topologies, i.e. the left column shows the standard full-configuration with magnetic fields permeating the whole stellar structure while the right column shows the crust-configuration where magnetic fields are concentrated only in the crust after having been expelled from the core.
Credits: Michail Chabanov, Konrad Topolski, Samuel Tootle, Elias Most, Luciano Rezzolla
Links: Relativistic Astrophysics group page: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ JETSET page: jetset-erc.org ELEMENTS page: https://elements.scienceCrustal magnetic field amplification in binary neutron star mergers: VorticityRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2022-11-28 | The movie shows the merger and post-merger evolution of two equal mass neutron star binaries with a total mass of approximately 2.5 solar masses. The 2D slices of the density-weighted vorticity are shown for the xy-plane in the top row and for the xz-plane in the bottom row. The contours of constant baryonic density are shown in dashed (10^13 g cm^-3) and solid (7x10^14 g cm^-3) green lines. The two configurations differ by having different magnetic-field topologies, i.e. the left column shows the standard full-configuration with magnetic fields permeating the whole stellar structure while the right column shows the crust-configuration where magnetic fields are concentrated only in the crust after having been expelled from the core.
Credits: Michail Chabanov, Samuel Tootle, Elias Most, Luciano Rezzolla
Links: Relativistic Astrophysics group page: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ JETSET page: jetset-erc.org ELEMENTS page: https://elements.scienceCrustal magnetic field amplification in binary neutron star mergers: Sources of magnetic energyRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2022-11-28 | The movie shows the merger and post-merger evolution of two equal mass neutron star binaries with a total mass of approximately 2.5 solar masses. The 2D slices of the sources and sinks of magnetic-energy density are shown for the xy-plane in the top row and for the xz-plane in the bottom row. Red color coding shows the regions where the magnetic energy is increasing at the expense of the available kinetic energy while blue color coding shows the locations of decreasing magnetic energy corresponding to regions where the magnetic field is doing work on the fluid. The contours of constant baryonic density are shown in dashed (10^13 g cm^-3) and solid (7x10^14 g cm^-3) green lines. The two configurations differ by having different magnetic-field topologies, i.e. the left column shows the standard full-configuration with magnetic fields permeating the whole stellar structure while the right column shows the crust-configuration where magnetic fields are concentrated only in the crust after having been expelled from the core.
Credits: Michail Chabanov, Samuel Tootle, Elias Most, Luciano Rezzolla
Links: Relativistic Astrophysics group page: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ JETSET page: jetset-erc.org ELEMENTS page: https://elements.scienceCrustal magnetic field amplification in binary neutron star mergers: Magnetic-field strengthRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2022-11-28 | The movie shows the merger and post-merger evolution of two equal mass neutron star binaries with a total mass of approximately 2.5 solar masses. The 2D slices of the absolute magnetic-field strength are shown for the xy-plane in the top row and for the xz-plane in the bottom row. The contours of constant baryonic density are shown in dashed (10^13 g cm^-3) and solid (7x10^14 g cm^-3) green lines. The two configurations differ by having different magnetic-field topologies, i.e. the left column shows the standard full-configuration with magnetic fields permeating the whole stellar structure while the right column shows the crust-configuration where magnetic fields are concentrated only in the crust after having been expelled from the core.
Credits: Michail Chabanov, Samuel Tootle, Elias Most, Luciano Rezzolla
Links: Relativistic Astrophysics group page: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ JETSET page: jetset-erc.org ELEMENTS page: https://elements.scienceQuark matter formation in a binary neutron star merger with VQCD equation of stateRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2022-11-18 | The movie shows the inspiral and post-merger evolution of an unequal mass neutron star binary with the soft version of the V-QCD EoS. The orbital rotation of the binary is counteracted by rotating by (half of) the phase angle of the gravitational wave strain, to achieve an approximately co-rotating frame. The 2D slices of quark volume fraction (left) and temperature (right) are shown in the orbital plane, along with the contours of the baryonic density (in units of nuclear saturation density). The bottom panel shows the evolution of the plus polarization of the gravitational wave strain.
Equations of state (soft, intermediate and stiff version) used in the simulations, available on the CompOSE database: https://compose.obspm.fr/eos/290 https://compose.obspm.fr/eos/289 https://compose.obspm.fr/eos/291
Credits: Samuel Tootle, Christian Ecker, Konrad Topolski, Tuna Demircik, Matti Järvinen, Luciano Rezzolla
Links: Relativistic Astrophysics group page: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ JETSET page: jetset-erc.org ELEMENTS page: https://elements.sciencePhase transition triggered collapse in an unequal mass binary neutron star merger with V-QCD EoSRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2022-06-03 | The movie shows the late inspiral and post-merger evolution in an unequal mass merger event with the soft version of the EoS. 2D slices of density (in units of nuclear saturation density) and temperature are shown in the orbital and the XZ plane, along with the contours of the quark volume fraction.
Additionally, the gravitational wave signal of the event (in red) is contrasted against the signal coming from a simulation ran with the same soft EoS, but without a phase transition to quark matter (gray curve). The approximate times of black hole formation for the EoS with (PT) and without the phase transition (no PT) are denoted by dashed vertical lines.
The collapse time is significantly shorter in the presence of a deconfinement phase transition, a feature that motivates the classification of a phase transition triggered collapse (PTTC).
Credits: Samuel Tootle, Christian Ecker, Konrad Topolski, Tuna Demircik, Matti Järvinen, Luciano Rezzolla
Relativistic Astrophysics group page: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ JETSET page: jetset-erc.org ELEMENTS page: https://elements.scienceComparing two supermassive black holes: Sgr A* vs M 87*Relastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2022-05-12 | The two supermassive black holes that have been observed by the EHT have considerable differences in mass. M87* is more than a thousand times larger than the black hole at the centre of our galaxy, Sgr A*, which means that the gas goes around the latter much faster (on the timescale of minutes) than it goes around the former (on the timescale of days to weeks). When using the Dolomites as an analogy, observing the mountain range would correspond to a whole day for Sgr A* but only to a few minutes for M87*, while keeping the observing time on Earth the same.
The animation starts by showing precisely these different timescales, illustrating the process of image clustering and averaging used to image Sgr A* (left) and M87* (right). The video showcases why, in a long-exposure observation of a changing subject, we can recover multiple possible images of the same mountain range. The various images produced are sorted into four different categories—known as clusters—according to their main features. Each cluster is accompanied by a vertical bar that indicates how often an image of that cluster is recovered from the total set of images. The images in each cluster are then averaged in the bottom panels and a final average image is constructed in the top part as a a weighted average of the various cluster averages (a cluster with a higher vertical bar has more weight in the final average image).
The second part of the video then shows this process applied to the actual images of Sgr A* and M87* recovered from the Event Horizon Telescope observations of the two black holes. Clearly, many more images can be produced of Sgr A* and the statistics is more diversified than for M87*, where the averages are very similar. Finally, note that the different images of Sgr A* represent equally good fits of the observational data and do not refer to different instants in time as in the time-lapse movie.
Credit: C. M. Fromm (University Würzburg, Germany), L. Rezzolla (University Frankfurt, Germany), EHT Collaboration
Link to our homepage: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ Link to JETSET: jetset-erc.org Link to the EHT website: eventhorizontelescope.org Link to the Black Hole Cam Website: blackholecam.org Link to the Relativistic Jets in Active Galaxies website: http://www.for5195.uni-wuerzburg.de/General Relativistic-Magnetohydrodynamic and Radiative-Transfer simulations of accretion onto Sgr A*Relastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2022-05-12 | The movie shows the evolution of black hole and magnetised accretion disk system, and radiation at radio frequencies emitted by the hot plasma (red colours) falling onto the rotating black hole and launching a high magnetised jet where the plasma is moving at relativistic speeds (blue colours). The zoom-in shows details of the plasma near the black hole and transits to the a vision of the radiation emitted at 230 GHz heated reported with red-oranges colors. The morphology and intensity of the electromagnetic emission varies as the plasma evolves, but also with the inclination angle of the observer. The images were blurred to the same resolution as Event Horizon Telescope collaboration combined telescopes. This movie shows an example of the simulation and images of the EHT library, which is composed of more than a million of images.
Credit A. Cruz-Osorio, L. Rezzolla (Frankfurt), Z. Younsi (London)
Link to our homepage: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ Link to JETSET: jetset-erc.org Link to the EHT website: eventhorizontelescope.org Link to the Black Hole Cam Website: blackholecam.orgClustering und Mittelung der Bilder von Sgr A*Relastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2022-05-12 | Diese Animation zeigt zunächst ein Zeitraffer-Video der Dolomiten, das den Prozess der Bildclusterung und -mittelung veranschaulicht. Dieser Prozess wird zur Abbildung des zentralen Schwarzen Lochs der Milchstraße, Sagittarius A*, verwendet. Weiterhin zeigt das Video, warum es bei einer Beobachtung mit Langzeitbelichtung eines variablen Objekts möglich ist, mehrere mögliche Bilder derselben Bergkette wiederherzustellen.
Die verschiedenen erzeugten Bilder werden nach ihren Hauptmerkmalen in vier verschiedene Kategorien – sogenannte Cluster – einsortiert. Jeder Cluster wird von einem vertikalen Balken begleitet, der angibt, wie oft ein Bild dieses Clusters aus dem gesamten Satz von Bildern wiederhergestellt wird. Daraufhin findet die Mittelung der Bilder eines jeden Clusters in den unteren Feldern statt. Dann wird ein endgültiges Durchschnittsbild im oberen Teil der Animation als gewichteter Durchschnitt der verschiedenen Cluster-Durchschnitte konstruiert (ein Cluster mit einem höheren vertikalen Balken hat mehr Gewicht im endgültigen Durchschnittsbild).
Der zweite Teil des Videos zeigt dann diesen Prozess, der auf die tatsächlichen Bilder von Sagittarius A* angewendet wird, welche aus den Beobachtungen des Event Horizon Telescope des Schwarzen Lochs gewonnen wurden. In diesem Fall stimmen die unterschiedlichen Bilder gleich gut mit den Beobachtungsdaten überein und beziehen sich nicht auf unterschiedliche Zeitpunkte wie im Zeitraffer-Video.
Credit: C. M. Fromm (University Würzburg, Germany), L. Rezzolla (University Frankfurt, Germany), EHT Collaboration
Link to our homepage: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ Link to JETSET: jetset-erc.org Link to the EHT website: eventhorizontelescope.org Link to the Black Hole Cam Website: blackholecam.org Link to the Relativistic Jets in Active Galaxies website: http://www.for5195.uni-wuerzburg.de/GRMHD Simulations and Best-bet Model for Sagittarius A*Relastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2022-05-12 | The movie illustrates the process of using general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics simulations to select the theoretical model that best matches the observations. First, it is illustrated how the mass and spin change the properties of a black hole. Next, it shows the result of a numerical simulations showing first the density and magnetic field of the accreting plasma and then the radiation emitted in the radio band and how the image changes when changing the orientation of the observer; for this simulation the mass is fixed to four million solar masses and the spin to 1/2. Next, the movie shows the result of many simulations varying in orientation of the observer and spin. The last part shows the varying images from the best-bet model and how it would appear when observed by the EHT telescopes.
Credit: C. M. Fromm (Würzburg), Y. Mizuno (Shangai), Z. Younsi (London), O. Porth (Amsterdam), H. Olivares (Nijmegen), A. Nathanail (Athens), A. Cruz-Osorio, L. Weih, L. Rezzolla (Frankfurt)
Link to our homepage: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ Link to JETSET: jetset-erc.org Link to the EHT website: eventhorizontelescope.org Link to the Black Hole Cam Website: blackholecam.org Link to the Relativistic Jets in Active Galaxies website: http://www.for5195.uni-wuerzburg.de/Clustering and averaging the images of Sgr A*Relastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2022-05-12 | This animation starts by showing a time-lapse video of the Dolomites mountain range, illustrating the process of image clustering and averaging used to image the Milky Way's central black hole, Sagittarius A*. The video showcases why, in a long-exposure observation of a variable subject, it is possible to recover multiple possible images of the same mountain range. The various images produced are sorted into four different categories - known as clusters - according to their main features. Each cluster is accompanied by a vertical bar that indicates how often an image of that cluster is recovered from the total set of images. The images in each cluster are then averaged in the bottom panels and a final average image is constructed in the top part as a a weighted average of the various cluster averages (a cluster with a higher vertical bar has more weight in the final average image). The second part of the video then shows this process applied to the actual images of Sagittarius A* recovered from the Event Horizon Telescope observations of the black hole. In this latter case, the different images represent equally good fits of the observational data and do not refer to different instants in time as in the time-lapse movie.
Credit: C. M. Fromm (University Würzburg, Germany), L. Rezzolla (University Frankfurt, Germany), EHT Collaboration
Link to our homepage: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ Link to JETSET: jetset-erc.org Link to the EHT website: eventhorizontelescope.org Link to the Black Hole Cam Website: blackholecam.org Link to the Relativistic Jets in Active Galaxies website: http://www.for5195.uni-wuerzburg.de/Vergleich zweier supermassiver Schwarzer Löcher Sgr A* vs M 87*Relastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2022-05-12 | Die beiden vom EHT beobachteten supermassiven Schwarzen Löcher weisen einen erheblichen Massenunterschied auf. M87* ist mehr als tausend mal größer als das Schwarze Loch im Zentrum unserer Galaxie, Sgr A*. Das bedeutet, dass das Gas letzteres viel schneller (auf der Zeitskala von Minuten) umrundet als ersteres (auf einer die Zeitskala von Tagen bis Wochen). Wenn man die Dolomiten als Analogie verwendet, würde die Beobachtung des Gebirges bei Sgr A* einem ganzen Tag entsprechen, bei M87* jedoch nur wenigen Minuten, bei gleicher Beobachtungszeit auf der Erde.
Die Animation beginnt damit, genau diese unterschiedlichen Zeitskalen zu zeigen und veranschaulicht den Prozess der Bildclusterung und -mittelung, der für die Bilder Sgr A* (links) und M87* (rechts) verwendet wird. Das Video zeigt, warum wir bei einer Beobachtung mit Langzeitbelichtung eines sich ändernden Motivs mehrere mögliche Bilder derselben Bergkette wiederherstellen können.
Die verschiedenen erzeugten Bilder werden nach ihren Hauptmerkmalen in vier verschiedene Kategorien – sogenannte Cluster – einsortiert. Jeder Cluster wird von einem vertikalen Balken begleitet, der angibt, wie oft ein Bild dieses Clusters aus dem gesamten Satz von Bildern wiederhergestellt wird. Daraufhin findet die Mittelung der Bilder eines jeden Clusters in den unteren Feldern statt. Dann wird ein endgültiges Durchschnittsbild im oberen Teil der Animation als gewichteter Durchschnitt der verschiedenen Cluster-Durchschnitte konstruiert (ein Cluster mit einem höheren vertikalen Balken hat mehr Gewicht im endgültigen Durchschnittsbild).
Der zweite Teil des Videos zeigt dann diesen Prozess, der auf die tatsächlichen Bilder von Sgr A* und M87* angewendet wird, welche aus den Beobachtungen der beiden Schwarzen Löcher durch das Event Horizon Telescope gewonnen wurden. Offensichtlich können mehr unterschiedliche Bilder von Sgr A* produziert werden und die Statistik ist diversifizierter als für M87*, wo die Durchschnittswerte sehr ähnlich sind. Beachten Sie abschließend, dass die unterschiedlichen Bilder von Sgr A* gleich gute Übereinstimmungen mit den Beobachtungsdaten darstellen und sich nicht auf unterschiedliche Zeitpunkte, wie im Zeitraffer-Video, beziehen.
Credit: C. M. Fromm (University Würzburg, Germany), L. Rezzolla (University Frankfurt, Germany), EHT Collaboration
Link to our homepage: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ Link to JETSET: jetset-erc.org Link to the EHT website: eventhorizontelescope.org Link to the Black Hole Cam Website: blackholecam.org Link to the Relativistic Jets in Active Galaxies website: http://www.for5195.uni-wuerzburg.de/Constraining Black Hole Models with EHT ObservationsRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2021-06-25 | Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts the existence of black holes. By solving Einstein's equations in vacuum, K. Schwarzschild and R. Kerr were able to obtain the descriptions of the spacetime geometry outside a nonrotating and a rotating black hole respectively. These black holes drastically curve spacetime in their vicinity, possess event horizons, from behind which no light or matter can escape, and thus cast dark shadows. All these features vary in magnitude with changing black hole spin.
Alternative theories of gravity also similarly predict black holes. Naturally, these black holes can be different from the Kerr black holes of general relativity, and in particular cast shadows of different sizes, depending on their spin or "generalized charge" (also called "hair"), sometimes smaller or larger than any Kerr black hole would.
Today, we reveal a significant step in testing well-known black hole models and theories with the Event Horizon Telescope. Towards this end we compared the theoretically-predicted shadow sizes associated with various solutions against the 2017 measurements of M87, and were able to extract constraints on their viability in describing M87.We demonstrate, e.g., that the quality of the measurements is already sufficient to rule out that M87* is a highly charged-dilaton black hole from a particular string-inspired theory of gravity. At the same time, the shadow size of M87* is entirely consistent with that of a Kerr black hole.
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is an international collaboration that captured the first image of a black hole by creating a virtual Earth-sized telescope. To learn more, you can check out our website at eventhorizontelescope.org/.
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Credit: Producers: Goethe University Frankfurt (https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/) Directors: Prashant Kocherlakota, Luciano Rezzolla Writers: Prashant Kocherlakota, Luciano Rezzolla Editors: Prashant Kocherlakota, Luciano Rezzolla, and the EHT Outreach Working Group Narrator: Nicola Barber Animation: Fiks Film Funded with support from the European Research Council and Goethe University Frankfurt. Realised under the auspices of the Event Horizon Telescope.Simulation of a common envelope evolution interacting with a stellar black holeRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2020-05-04 | The video shows general relativity simulation a common-envelope of a red supergiant star when it is encountered with a stellar black hole. Shown is the density of the common envelope with three density gradients, modeling the matter density in supergiant star when the black hole is moving forward to the center of the star. We observe a strong density gradient in the star direction and a gradually dragged shock cone. This model has been employed in the astrophysical modeling of the secular evolution of a binary system experiencing a common-envelope phase. In this phase, the inspiral timescale of the binary is reduced from 100yr to ~0.5yr.
More details can be found in the original publication by Cruz-Osorio et al. (2020): arxiv.org/abs/2004.13782
Simulations: CAFE & BHAC codes. Copyright: Alejandro Cruz-Osorio & Luciano Rezzolla (2020)Delayed phase transition to quark-gluon plasma in binary neutron star mergerRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2020-04-08 | The simulation shows The density of two neutron stars that merge. After the merger, a phase transition from ordinary hadronic matter (red-yellow) to quark matter (green) takes place.
The simulations were performed in order to find out whether such a quark-gluon plasma inside a merger remnant could be detected via graviational waves. See arxiv.org/pdf/1912.09340.pdf for the corresponding publication, which has been accepted to Physical Review Letters.
Link to our homepage: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ Link to our gallery: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/gallery/
Copyright: Lukas R. Weih & Luciano Rezzolla (2019)Simulation of binary neutron-star merger with quark-hadron phase transitionRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2019-11-08 | The video shows a computer simulation of a binary neutron-star merger. The simulation makes use of a special prescription for describing nuclear matter, so that during the merger the matter undergoes a phase transition from ordinary hadronic matter to quark matter. Shown are density, quark fraction and the temperature.
Link to our homepage: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ Link to our gallery: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/gallery/
Copyright: Lukas R. Weih & Luciano Rezzolla (2019)Accreting black hole in Virtual RealityRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2019-10-11 | Ever wondered what a real black hole looks like? Watch it here!
This is a simulation of the supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A* in our own Milky Way. It is made by first simulating the plasma flows around it with a GRMHD code called BHAC (Porth et al. 2017). This plasma flow is then used to generate synthetic images at a frequency of 600 GHz with a code called RAPTOR, developed at Radboud University (T. Bronzwaer & J. Davelaar et al. in prep.).
This work was done as part of BlackHoleCam, an ERC funded research project that is part of the Event Horizon Telscope Consortium, and aims to image the event horizon of a black hole for the very first time! The video was created by Jordy Davelaar, you can visit his channel here: youtube.com/channel/UCj8gGgymTvcWT50yjlibDTw
In the video we show a zoom in from optical telescope images to the heart of the galaxy M87. There, a plasma of several billion degrees Celsius is swirling around the black hole at over a 3,600,000 km/h. This system is simulated on a supercomputer. Analyzing the simulation we can create an image of what the black hole should look like as seen from Earth. With the global EHT collaboration we were able to combine telescopes all around the world to create a single, Earth sized telescope, which can then observe the actual black hole. After the observation in April 2017 it took hundreds of scientists two years to create the final image presented in this video. This observational image can then be compared to the simulation of the black hole, and with this we can once again test Einsteins Theory of Relativity against reality.
The galaxy M87 is 55 million light years away or 52x10²⁰ km Its central black hole has a mass of 7.22 billion solar masses, or 1.4356x10³⁷ kg or 3.1651x10³⁷ lb
Link to our homepage: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ Link to our gallery: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/gallery/
Link to the Black Hole Cam Website: blackholecam.orgTelescopes in the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration for future ObservationsRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2019-04-10 | This video shows the global net of telescopes in the EHT collaboration for future observations. With a process called Very Long Baseline Interferometry they can be combined into a huge, single telescope the size of the earth. This enables scientists to observe the black hole in the center of for example our galaxy, which is comparable to photographing an apple on the surface of the moon.
Link to our homepage: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ Link to our gallery: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/gallery/
Link to the Black Hole Cam Website: blackholecam.orgTelescopes in the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration in 2017Relastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2019-04-10 | This video shows the global net of telescopes in the EHT collaboration. With a process called Very Long Baseline Interferometry they can be combined into a huge, single telescope the size of the earth. This enables scientists to observe the black hole in the center of for example our galaxy, which is comparable to photographing an apple on the surface of the moon.
Link to our homepage: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ Link to our gallery: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/gallery/
In the video we show a zoom in from optical telescope images to the heart of the galaxy M87. There, a plasma of several billion degrees Celsius is swirling around the black hole at over a 3,600,000 km/h. This system is simulated on a supercomputer. Analyzing the simulation we can create an image of what the black hole should look like as seen from Earth. With the global EHT collaboration we were able to combine telescopes all around the world to create a single, Earth sized telescope, which can then observe the actual black hole. After the observation in April 2017 it took hundreds of scientists two years to create the final image presented in this video. This observational image can then be compared to the simulation of the black hole, and with this we can once again test Einsteins Theory of Relativity against reality.
The galaxy M87 is 55 million light years away or 52x10²⁰ km Its central black hole has a mass of 7.22 billion solar masses, or 1.4356x10³⁷ kg or 3.1651x10³⁷ lb
Link to our homepage: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ Link to our gallery: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/gallery/
Link to the Black Hole Cam Website: blackholecam.orgUsing VLBI to create an Image of the black hole in the center of our GalaxyRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2019-04-10 | This video shows the global net of telescopes in the EHT collaboration. With a process called Very Long Baseline Interferometry they can be combined into a huge, single telescope the size of the earth. This enables scientists to observe the black hole in the center of for example our galaxy, which is comparable to photographing an apple on the surface of the moon. As the single telescopes move with the rotation of the earth more and more information about the observed object is gained. After 24 hours the shadow of the black hole as well as the bright ring of plasma (see ) can clearly be seen.
Link to our homepage: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ Link to our gallery: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/gallery/
Link to the Black Hole Cam Website: blackholecam.orgRaytracing of a Black Hole and its ShadowRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2019-04-10 | This video was created by T. Müller and M. Pössel from "Haus der Astronomie" and MPI for Astronomy: https://www.haus-der-astronomie.de/ http://www.mpia.de/en
Link to our homepage: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ Link to our gallery: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/gallery/
In the video we show a zoom in from optical telescope images to the heart of the galaxy M87. There, a plasma of several billion degrees Celsius is swirling around the black hole at over a 3,600,000 km/h. This system is simulated on a supercomputer. Analyzing the simulation we can create an image of what the black hole should look like as seen from Earth. With the global EHT collaboration we were able to combine telescopes all around the world to create a single, Earth sized telescope, which can then observe the actual black hole. After the observation in April 2017 it took hundreds of scientists two years to create the final image presented in this video. This observational image can then be compared to the simulation of the black hole, and with this we can once again test Einsteins Theory of Relativity against reality.
The galaxy M87 is 55 million light years away or 52x10²⁰ km Its central black hole has a mass of 7.22 billion solar masses, or 1.4356x10³⁷ kg or 3.1651x10³⁷ lb
Link to our homepage: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ Link to our gallery: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/gallery/
This video was in part created by T. Müller and M. Pössel from "Haus der Astronomie" and MPI for Astronomy: https://www.haus-der-astronomie.de/ http://www.mpia.de/en
Link to our homepage: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ Link to our gallery: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/gallery/
Link to the Black Hole Cam Website: blackholecam.orgUsing VLBI to create an Image of the black hole in the center the Galaxy M87Relastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2019-04-10 | This video shows the global net of telescopes in the EHT collaboration. With a process called Very Long Baseline Interferometry they can be combined into a huge, single telescope the size of the earth. This enables scientists to observe the black hole in the center of for example our galaxy, which is comparable to photographing an apple on the surface of the moon. As the single telescopes move with the rotation of the earth more and more information about the observed object is gained. After 24 hours the shadow of the black hole as well as the bright ring of plasma (see ) can clearly be seen.
Link to our homepage: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ Link to our gallery: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/gallery/
In the video we show a zoom in from optical telescope images to the heart of the galaxy M87. There, a plasma of several billion degrees Celsius is swirling around the black hole at over a 3,600,000 km/h. This system is simulated on a supercomputer. Analyzing the simulation we can create an image of what the black hole should look like as seen from Earth. With the global EHT collaboration we were able to combine telescopes all around the world to create a single, Earth sized telescope, which can then observe the actual black hole. After the observation in April 2017 it took hundreds of scientists two years to create the final image presented in this video. This observational image can then be compared to the simulation of the black hole, and with this we can once again test Einsteins Theory of Relativity against reality.
The galaxy M87 is 55 million light years away or 52x10²⁰ km Its central black hole has a mass of 7.22 billion solar masses, or 1.4356x10³⁷ kg or 3.1651x10³⁷ lb
Link to our homepage: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ Link to our gallery: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/gallery/
In the video we show a zoom in from optical telescope images to the heart of the galaxy M87. There, a plasma of several billion degrees Celsius is swirling around the black hole at over a 3,600,000 km/h. This system is simulated on a supercomputer. Analyzing the simulation we can create an image of what the black hole should look like as seen from Earth. With the global EHT collaboration we were able to combine telescopes all around the world to create a single, Earth sized telescope, which can then observe the actual black hole. After the observation in April 2017 it took hundreds of scientists two years to create the final image presented in this video. This observational image can then be compared to the simulation of the black hole, and with this we can once again test Einsteins Theory of Relativity against reality.
The galaxy M87 is 55 million light years away or 52x10²⁰ km Its central black hole has a mass of 7.22 billion solar masses, or 1.4356x10³⁷ kg or 3.1651x10³⁷ lb
Link to our homepage: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ Link to our gallery: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/gallery/
In the video we show a zoom in from optical telescope images to the heart of the galaxy M87. There, a plasma of several billion degrees Celsius is swirling around the black hole at over a 3,600,000 km/h. This system is simulated on a supercomputer. Analyzing the simulation we can create an image of what the black hole should look like as seen from Earth. With the global EHT collaboration we were able to combine telescopes all around the world to create a single, Earth sized telescope, which can then observe the actual black hole. After the observation in April 2017 it took hundreds of scientists two years to create the final image presented in this video. This observational image can then be compared to the simulation of the black hole, and with this we can once again test Einsteins Theory of Relativity against reality.
The galaxy M87 is 55 million light years away or 52x10²⁰ km Its central black hole has a mass of 7.22 billion solar masses, or 1.4356x10³⁷ kg or 3.1651x10³⁷ lb
Link to our homepage: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/ Link to our gallery: https://relastro.uni-frankfurt.de/gallery/
Link to the Black Hole Cam Website: blackholecam.orgPushing the Boundaries on our Understanding of Neutron StarsRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2018-12-04 | Neutron stars are highly complex objects, studied by hundreds of scientists in different countries. COST helps, bringing those scientists together to create synergy between different fields in physics and push the boundaries of knowledge.360° neutron star merger density evolutionRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2018-10-10 | This visualisation shows the density evolution of a merger of two 1.35 solar mass neutron stars with the LS220 equation of state, which are on a quasi-circular orbit.
The observer is placed slightly outside the center of mass where you can observe the appearance of a black hole at the end of the video.
Copyright @ Institute for Theoretical Physics, Frankfurt am Main Image credit: Michael T. RattayComposition and density evolution in neutron star mergersRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2017-10-15 | In this visualization, we show the electron fraction(left) and density(right) evolution of a merger of two 1.35 solar mass neutron stars with the LS220 equation of state, which are on a quasi-circular orbit.
It shows the evolution of the electron fraction in full 3D. The color mapper the density has a logarithmic scale and thus captures the dense neutron star matter as well as the outflowing material.
During the merger neutron rich matter (white regions) is ejected and undergoes weak interactions (dark regions) during which neutrinos are emitted.
The neutron rich ejecta can later undergo nucleosynthesis and produce heavy elements such as gold.
The code used is the EinsteinToolkit with WhiskyTHC.
The visualisations were performed using ZIB/AMIRA.Temperature and density evolution in neutron star mergersRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2017-10-15 | In this visualization, we show the temperature(left) and density(right) evolution of a merger of two 1.35 solar mass neutron stars with the LS220 equation of state, which are on a quasi-circular orbit.
The color map has a logarithmic scale and thus captures the dense neutron star matter as well as the outflowing material.
The formation of a bar shaped hyper massive neutron star (HMNS), which emits intense gravitational waves, is clearly visible. After loosing enough angular momentum, the HMNS collapses to a Kerr black hole surrounded by an accretion disk.
The code used is the EinsteinToolkit with WhiskyTHC.
The visualisations were done with ZIB/AMIRA.NewCompStar: Binary neutron star merger in 3DRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2016-07-13 | In this visualization, we show the merger of two 1.35 solar mass neutron stars with the LS220 equation of state, which are on a quasi-circular orbit.
It shows the density evolution in full 3D. The color map has a logarithmic scale and thus captures the dense neutron star matter as well as the outflowing material.
The formation of a bar shaped hyper massive neutron star (HMNS), which emits intense gravitational waves, is clearly visible. After loosing enough angular momentum, the HMNS collapses to a Kerr black hole surrounded by an accretion disk.
The code used is the EinsteinToolkit with WhiskyTHC.
Creating this visualization of the simulation data was supported by NewCompStar (MPI304 Cost Action).
COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is a pan-European intergovernmental framework. Its mission is to enable break-through scientific and technological developments leading to new concepts and products and thereby contribute to strengthening Europe’s research and innovation capacities.
The original video can be found here: https://cloud.itp.uni-frankfurt.de/index.php/s/yA6D6yiRRewubZMNewCompStar: Binary neutron star merger with tracer evolutionRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2016-07-13 | The origin of the heavy elements in our universe is an open problem in astronomy. The production of the heavy element is formed through a certain type of nucleosynthesis called rapid neutron capture process or r-process. The environment required for r-process requires a neutron rich environment and for many years it was thought that the only production sites could be from supernova explosions. However, more detailed numerical simulations have shown that the environments from supernovas isn't neutron-rich enough and that another source is required. New simulations from binary neutron star (BNS) mergers have been very promising candidates for the progenitors of the heavy elements.
In order to study r-process nucleosynthesis, the history of the fluid element is required, along with key properties that are illustrated in the animation. These include density, electron fraction, and kinetic energy. By taking the time series of this data and plugging it into a nuclear network, abundancy curves of heavy elements can be produced.
In this animation, we show the merger of two 1.35 solar mass neutron stars with the LS220 equation of state. To capture the evolution of the fluid, we use tracers that can track the evolution of the fluid elements through time. The distribution of the tracers can provide insight into how the heavy elements are made.
The code used is the EinsteinToolkit with WhiskyTHC.
Creating this visualization of the simulation data was supported by NewCompStar (MPI304 Cost Action).
COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is a pan-European intergovernmental framework. Its mission is to enable break-through scientific and technological developments leading to new concepts and products and thereby contribute to strengthening Europe’s research and innovation capacities.
The original video can be found here: https://cloud.itp.uni-frankfurt.de/index.php/s/D4D5JqxFYbOciiPNewCompStar: Eccentric binary neutron star mergerRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2016-07-13 | The simulations above model BNS systems in a quasi-circular configuration. Primordial BNS systems should be found in these kind of orbits, due to the long-term emission of gravitational waves, which efficiently circularize the initial, probably eccentric orbit.
Another possibility is a BNS merger due to dynamical encounters in highly dense stellar systems, like core-collapsed stellar clusters. These events potentially release more unbound material to their surroundings, while having lower event rates.
This animation shows an eccentric encounter of two 1.39 solar mass neutron stars. They move on a parabolic orbit with a periastron of approximately 18 km. During the first encounter the strong tidal interactions lead to a large amount of neutron rich outflows and part of the orbital angular momentum is transferred to spin of the stars.
Again a LS220 equation of state is employed. In addition to the density, the internal energy and the electron fraction of the material is shown.
The code used is the EinsteinToolkit with WhiskyTHC.
Creating this visualization of the simulation data was supported by NewCompStar (MPI304 Cost Action).
COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is a pan-European intergovernmental framework. Its mission is to enable break-through scientific and technological developments leading to new concepts and products and thereby contribute to strengthening Europe’s research and innovation capacities.
The original video can be found here: https://cloud.itp.uni-frankfurt.de/index.php/s/8lTEHyuEznAbhutHigh accuracy Binary Neutron StarsRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2016-03-25 | This video shows the visualization of a binary neutron star merger simulated with the WhiskyTHC code, developed by David Radice, Wolfgang Kastaun, Filippo Galeazzi and others. The WhiskyTHC code is one of the fastest converging codes available in fully general relativistic hydrodynamics, therefore the simulation showcased here is very accurate. The visualization and preparation of this movie was performed by Cosima Breu.Inspiral and Merger of equal-mass Relativistic Neutron StarsRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2015-09-17 | Collision of low-mass neutron stars described by an ideal fluid equation of state.Inspiral and Merger of equal-mass Relativistic Neutron StarsRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2015-09-17 | Collision of low-mass neutron stars described by an ideal fluid equation of state.Inspiral and Merger of equal-mass Relativistic Neutron StarsRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2015-09-17 | Collision of low-mass neutron stars described by an ideal fluid equation of state.Inspiral and Merger of equal-mass Relativistic Neutron StarsRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2015-09-17 | Collision of low-mass neutron stars described by a polytropic equation of state.Inspiral and Merger of equal-mass Relativistic Neutron StarsRelastro @ ITP - Goethe University, Frankfurt2015-09-17 | Collision of low-mass neutron stars described by a polytropic equation of state.