This simulation tracks the gravitational wave and density changes as two orbiting neutron stars crash together. Dark purple colors represent the lowest densities, while yellow-white shows the highest. An audible tone and a visual frequency scale (at left) track the steady rise in the frequency of gravitational waves as the neutron stars close. When the objects merge at 42 seconds, the gravitational waves suddenly jump to frequencies of thousands of hertz and bounce between two primary tones (quasiperiodic oscillations, or QPOs). The presence of these signals in such simulations led to the search and discovery of similar phenomena in the light emitted by short gamma-ray bursts.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and STAG Research Centre/Peter Hammond
Scott Wiessinger (KBRwyle) - Lead Producer
Francis Reddy (University of Maryland College Park) - Lead Science Writer
Peter Hammond (University of Southampton) - Lead Visualizer
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