Over the years the group has produced many images from the simulations that we have carried out and that have helped to communicate our science to the general public. Many of them have appeared on newspapers, magazines, calendars, and of course the internet; you can find many of them after googling for “black holes” or “neutron stars”. Some of these images have also won prestigious awards.
However, there is no way better to let people know about our results than YouTube (this is our channel, where you can find some of the most recent simulations); one movie on gamma-ray bursts has become quite popular (400,000 views; here is the German version), while another movie on the tidal disruption of neutron stars has also attracted some attention (850,000 views), eventually ending-up on the New York Times.
The first image of a black hole has gone around the world quickly. Some of the animations we have produced have been included in public outreach movies of great success such as that of Veritasium, (5,600,000 views) or of the FAZ (390,000 views).
Producing a nice image is very satisfying and often the result of a team of inspiring people (E. Mueller, R. Kaehler, M. Koppitz) to obtain the best combination of colors, transparencies and camera views. In these works I have benefitted from the expertise and tools developed by C. Hege at ZIB, Berlin. Below are some links to these images and movies; higher-resolution versions can be obtained if you send me an email.
- Supermassive black holes (EHT & Co)
- Binary neutron stars
- Binary black holes
- Mixed binaries
- Isolated stars
- Relativistic turbulence