Collision of Unequal Mass Stars

Simulation and Visualization by Joshua Barnes, University of Hawaii

Simulation and Visualization Details

• Collision of two stars
• The left column shows the overall view of the collision, showing the exterior of the stars.
• Color represents the entropy function, a(S), of the stellar material, with blue to red going from low to high.
• Smaller star "plows into" larger one, loses momentum, falls back and eventually merges.  Shocks increase entropy function a(S) in outer regions, shown by change in color from blue (low entropy) to red (high entropy).
• 48K-particle SPH calculation.
• In the center column, only the particles in a slice through the midplane of the collsion are shown. This view shows the interior of the stars.
• Color represents gas density.
• High-density material in small star (red) remains together as small star collides with larger one.  Smaller star eventually settles almost intact within center of larger one.
• 48K-particle SPH calculation.

Images

Overall View click on image for larger version	Midplane Slice View click on image for larger version	Description
		Two stars approaching
		The initial collision
		Material is flung off of each star
		The ensuing collision and merging
		The two stars spiral together as they merge
		The merged stars

Movies

	Overall View MPEG movie 1537 frames 512 x 386 resolution 7.4 MB download
	Midplane Slice View MPEG movie 1537 frames 512 x 386 resolution 7.4 MB download
	Combined View MPEG movie 1537 frames 480 x 272 resolution 7.4 MB download

Copyright & Credits

All usage must be cleared with the respective authors, as listed in the credits. This includes posting on other web sites and any other electronic, print, or media distribution.

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