Multimessenger Astronomy
Overview
This gallery brings together animations, visualizations, videos and still images relating to the growing field of “multimessenger” astronomy.
In the past century, humans have mastered how to detect light beyond what our eyes can see — unveiling secrets held in other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. More recently, we have developed detectors for other signals from the universe — particles ejected from black holes and other high-energy sources and even wiggles of space-time in the form of gravitational waves. This new capability of combining information from all of these different messengers to more completely understand a source is called multimessenger astronomy.
The four messengers astronomers study are light in all its forms, cosmic rays, neutrinos, and gravitational waves.
When an astronomical source varies slowly, astronomers can combine information from different messengers received at different times — sometimes even years apart — and still get a good picture of it. But many source types change rapidly with time. For them, it’s critical that observations occur simultaneously or within a short time span so that astronomers capture the properties of different messengers before the source changes. Astronomers call this “time domain” astronomy. Multimessenger time domain astronomy is a powerful new tool for exploring the cosmos.
Going multimessenger
- ID: 13042 Produced Video
NASA's Fermi Mission Shows How Luck Favors the Prepared
Go to this pageExplore how more than a century of scientific progress with gravitational waves, gamma rays and neutrinos has helped bring about the age of multimessenger astronomy. Music: "Family Tree," "The Archives" and "Beyond Truth," all from Killer Tracks.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight CenterWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. || Luck_Timeline_Still_print.jpg (1024x576) [140.7 KB] || Luck_Timeline_Still.jpg (3840x2160) [1.1 MB] || Luck_Timeline_Still_searchweb.png (320x180) [78.5 KB] || Luck_Timeline_Still_thm.png (80x40) [7.4 KB] || 13042_LuckFavorsThePrepared_1080p.mov (1920x1080) [550.2 MB] || 13042_LuckFavorsThePrepared_1080.mp4 (1920x1080) [373.6 MB] || 13042_LuckFavorsThePrepared_1080.m4v (1920x1080) [188.4 MB] || 13042_LuckFavorsThePrepared_1080p.webm (1920x1080) [39.3 MB] || 13042_LuckFavorsThePrepared_ProRes_3840x2160_2997.mov (3840x2160) [19.8 GB] || 13042_LuckFavorsThePrepared_2160.mp4 (3840x2160) [1.1 GB] || 13042_LuckFavorsThePrepared_4K.mov (3840x2160) [715.2 MB] || LuckFavorsThePrepared_SRT_Captions.en_US.srt [6.5 KB] || LuckFavorsThePrepared_SRT_Captions.en_US.vtt [6.3 KB] ||
- ID: 13094 Produced Video
Multimessenger Timeline Resources
Go to this pageThe media elements below appear in the multimessenger astronomy video "Luck Favors the Prepared." || A simple animation of a gamma ray moving through space.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center || Gamma_Ray_animation.00001_print.jpg (1024x576) [15.9 KB] || Gamma_Ray_animation.00001_print_searchweb.png (320x180) [22.1 KB] || Gamma_Ray_animation.00001_print_thm.png (80x40) [2.3 KB] || Gamma_Ray_animation.mov (1280x720) [51.5 MB] || Gamma_Ray_animation.webm (1280x720) [773.0 KB] || ||
Light
- ID: 20241 Animation
The Electromagnetic Spectrum
Go to this pageAnimation depicting the electromagnetic spectrum and the different characteristics of each wavelength type. 4k resolution. || WFirst_ElectromagneticSpectrum.0830_print.jpg (1024x576) [228.7 KB] || WFirst_ElectromagneticSpectrum.0830.png (3840x2160) [13.8 MB] || WFirst_ElectromagneticSpectrum.0830_searchweb.png (320x180) [105.9 KB] || WFirst_ElectromagneticSpectrum.0830_thm.png (80x40) [7.1 KB] || WFirst_LightSpectrum_Final_H264_HD_1080p.mov (1920x1080) [150.2 MB] || WFirst_LightSpectrum_Final_H264_HD_1080p.webm (1920x1080) [8.7 MB] || WFirst_LightSpectrum_Final_4K_ProRes.mov (3840x2160) [5.6 GB] || frames/3840x2160_16x9_30p/ (3840x2160) [256.0 KB] || WFirst_LightSpectrum_Final_H264-4K.mov (3840x2160) [196.0 MB] ||
- ID: 10566 Produced Video
Fermi Explores Supernova Remnants
Go to this pageFermi's Large Area Telescope (LAT) resolved gamma rays with energies a billion times greater than that of visible light from supernova remnants of different ages and in different environments. W51C, W44 and IC 443 are middle-aged remnants between 4,000 and 30,000 years old. The youngest remnant, Cassiopeia A, is only 330 years old and appears to the LAT as a point source. The images bring astronomers a step closer to understanding the source of some of the universe's most energetic particles — cosmic rays. The emissions are likely the result of accelerated protons interacting with nearby gas clouds, but other possibilities have not been eliminated. Astrophysicists believe that supernova remnants are the galaxy's best candidate sites for cosmic-ray acceleration. These observations provide further validation to the notion that supernova remnants act as enormous accelerators for cosmic particles. ||
- ID: 10690 Produced Video
How to make a gamma ray
Go to this pageA series of animations showing how gamma rays can be created through various particle interactions. ||
- ID: 12004 Produced Video
NASA's Fermi Satellite Kicks Off a Blazar Bonanza
Go to this pageExplore how gamma-ray telescopes in space and on Earth captured an outburst of high-energy light from PKS 1441+25, a black-hole-powered galaxy more than halfway across the universe.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.For complete transcript, click here. || PKS_1441_still_1.png (1920x1080) [2.1 MB] || PKS_1441_still_1_print.jpg (1024x576) [45.3 KB] || PKS_1441_still_1_searchweb.png (320x180) [57.1 KB] || PKS_1441_still_1_thm.png (80x40) [7.6 KB] || PKS_1441_ProRes_1920x1080_2997.mov (1920x1080) [2.8 GB] || PKS_1441_H264_Best_1920x1080_2997.mov (1920x1080) [1.5 GB] || PKS_1441_H264_Good_1920x1080_2997.mov (1920x1080) [244.3 MB] || PKS_1441_Blazar_FINAL_youtube_hq.mov (1920x1080) [947.0 MB] || PKS_1441_1920x1080_4mbps.mp4 (1920x1080) [105.6 MB] || PKS_1441_Blazar_FINAL_appletv.m4v (1280x720) [126.1 MB] || PKS_1441_Blazar_FINAL_appletv.webm (1280x720) [26.3 MB] || PKS_1441_Blazar_FINAL_appletv_subtitles.m4v (1280x720) [126.2 MB] || PKS_1441_SRT_captions.en_US.srt [4.5 KB] || PKS_1441_SRT_captions.en_US.vtt [4.5 KB] || NASA_PODCAST_PKS_1441_Blazar_FINAL_ipod_sm.mp4 (320x240) [43.8 MB] ||
- ID: 12216 Produced Video
NASA's Fermi Preps to Narrow Down Gravitational Wave Sources
Go to this pageFermi's GBM saw a fading X-ray flash at nearly the same moment LIGO detected gravitational waves from a black hole merger in 2015. This movie shows how scientists can narrow down the location of the LIGO source on the assumption that the burst is connected to it. In this case, the LIGO search area is reduced by two-thirds. Greater improvements are possible in future detections.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Watch this video on the NASAgovVideo YouTube channel. || LIGO_GBM_Common_only_Earth.png (1920x1080) [4.2 MB] || LIGO_GBM_Common_only_Earth_print.jpg (1024x576) [168.3 KB] || LIGO_GBM_Common_only_Earth_searchweb.png (320x180) [97.0 KB] || LIGO_GBM_Common_only_Earth_web.png (320x180) [97.0 KB] || LIGO_GBM_Common_only_Earth_thm.png (80x40) [6.6 KB] || Fermi_LIGO_GBM_localizations_H264_YouTube_1080p.mp4 (1920x1080) [82.8 MB] || Fermi_LIGO_GBM_localizations_H264_720p.mp4 (1280x720) [35.4 MB] || Fermi_LIGO_GBM_localizations_ProRes_1920x1080_30.mov (1920x1080) [431.3 MB] || Fermi_LIGO_GBM_localizations_H264_720p.webm (1280x720) [2.3 MB] || 12216_Fermi_LIGO_Localization_ProRes_7282x4096_30.mov (7282x4096) [6.0 GB] || 12216_Fermi_LIGO_Localization_4K.m4v (3840x2160) [140.3 MB] || 12216_Fermi_LIGO_Localization_4K.mov (4096x2304) [90.6 MB] ||
- ID: 13220 Produced Video
Ten Years of High-Energy Gamma-ray Bursts
Go to this pageGreen dots show the locations of 186 gamma-ray bursts observed by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on NASA’s Fermi satellite during its first decade. Some noteworthy bursts are highlighted and labeled. Background: Constructed from nine years of LAT data, this map shows how the gamma-ray sky appears at energies above 10 billion electron volts. The plane of our Milky Way galaxy runs along the middle of the plot. Brighter colors indicate brighter gamma-ray sources.Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration || Fermi_LAT_GRBs.jpg (5991x2994) [2.1 MB] ||
- ID: 13041 Produced Video
Fermi's Gamma-ray Burst Monitor
Go to this pageThe Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) is one of the instruments aboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The GBM studies gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the universe, as well as other flashes of gamma rays. Gamma-ray bursts are created when massive stars collapse into black holes or when two superdense stars merge, also producing a black hole. The GBM sees these bursts across the entire sky, and scientists are using its observations to learn more about the universe.Music:The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoonMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licensehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_USWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. || Fermi_GBM_Still_1.jpg (1920x1080) [231.2 KB] || Fermi_GBM_Still_1_searchweb.png (320x180) [43.6 KB] || Fermi_GBM_Still_1_thm.png (80x40) [4.9 KB] || 13041_Fermi_GBM_TOS_ProRes_1920x1080_24.mov (1920x1080) [811.2 MB] || 13041_Fermi_GBM_TOS_H264_1080p.mov (1920x1080) [59.2 MB] || 13041_Fermi_GBM_TOS_1080.mp4 (1920x1080) [84.9 MB] || 13041_Fermi_GBM_TOS_Apple_1080.m4v (1920x1080) [52.9 MB] || 13041_Fermi_GBM_TOS_ProRes_1920x1080_24.webm (1920x1080) [11.7 MB] || 13041_Fermi_GBM_TOS_SRT_Captions.en_US.srt [2.1 KB] || 13041_Fermi_GBM_TOS_SRT_Captions.en_US.vtt [2.0 KB] ||
Cosmic Rays
- ID: 13236 Produced Video
Fermi Sees the Moon in Gamma Rays
Go to this pageThese images show the steadily improving view of the Moon’s gamma-ray glow from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Each 5-by-5-degree image is centered on the Moon and shows gamma rays with energies above 31 million electron volts, or tens of millions of times that of visible light. At these energies, the Moon is actually brighter than the Sun. Brighter colors indicate greater numbers of gamma rays. This image sequence shows how longer exposure, ranging from two to 128 months (10.7 years), improved the view.Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration || MoonvsTimesingleimageen.jpg (4322x2161) [5.2 MB] ||
- ID: 12004 Produced Video
NASA's Fermi Satellite Kicks Off a Blazar Bonanza
Go to this pageExplore how gamma-ray telescopes in space and on Earth captured an outburst of high-energy light from PKS 1441+25, a black-hole-powered galaxy more than halfway across the universe.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.For complete transcript, click here. || PKS_1441_still_1.png (1920x1080) [2.1 MB] || PKS_1441_still_1_print.jpg (1024x576) [45.3 KB] || PKS_1441_still_1_searchweb.png (320x180) [57.1 KB] || PKS_1441_still_1_thm.png (80x40) [7.6 KB] || PKS_1441_ProRes_1920x1080_2997.mov (1920x1080) [2.8 GB] || PKS_1441_H264_Best_1920x1080_2997.mov (1920x1080) [1.5 GB] || PKS_1441_H264_Good_1920x1080_2997.mov (1920x1080) [244.3 MB] || PKS_1441_Blazar_FINAL_youtube_hq.mov (1920x1080) [947.0 MB] || PKS_1441_1920x1080_4mbps.mp4 (1920x1080) [105.6 MB] || PKS_1441_Blazar_FINAL_appletv.m4v (1280x720) [126.1 MB] || PKS_1441_Blazar_FINAL_appletv.webm (1280x720) [26.3 MB] || PKS_1441_Blazar_FINAL_appletv_subtitles.m4v (1280x720) [126.2 MB] || PKS_1441_SRT_captions.en_US.srt [4.5 KB] || PKS_1441_SRT_captions.en_US.vtt [4.5 KB] || NASA_PODCAST_PKS_1441_Blazar_FINAL_ipod_sm.mp4 (320x240) [43.8 MB] ||
- ID: 12989 Produced Video
Superstar Eta Carinae Shoots Cosmic Rays
Go to this pageZoom into Eta Carinae, where the outflows of two massive stars collide and shoot accelerated particles cosmic rays into space.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Music: "Expectant Aspect" from Killer Tracks.YouTube LinkComplete transcript available. || Eta_Car_CR_Still.jpg (1920x1080) [307.1 KB] || Eta_Car_CR_Still_print.jpg (1024x576) [127.9 KB] || Eta_Car_CR_Still_searchweb.png (320x180) [98.2 KB] || Eta_Car_CR_Still_thm.png (80x40) [7.3 KB] || 12989_Eta_Car_CosmicRay_ProRes_1080.mov (1920x1080) [2.1 GB] || 12989_Eta_Car_CosmicRay_1080p.mov (1920x1080) [311.6 MB] || 12989_Eta_Car_CosmicRay_1080.mp4 (1920x1080) [234.6 MB] || 12989_Eta_Car_CosmicRay_1080.m4v (1920x1080) [155.6 MB] || 12989_Eta_Car_CosmicRay_ProRes_1080.webm (1920x1080) [16.1 MB] || 12989_Eta_Car_CosmicRay_SRT_Captions.en_US.srt [2.0 KB] || 12989_Eta_Car_CosmicRay_SRT_Captions.en_US.vtt [2.0 KB] ||
- ID: 12783 Infographic
SuperTIGER Ready to Fly Again in Study of Heavy Cosmic Rays
Go to this pageSuperTIGER team members Brian Rauch, Jason Link and Nathan Walsh join NASA Blueshift's Sara Mitchell for a Skype conversation in November 2017 about the instrument's science, technology and upcoming launch from McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterComplete transcript available. || SuperTIGER_Skype_Still.png (1280x720) [1.2 MB] || SuperTIGER_Skype2.mp4 (1280x720) [608.6 MB] || SuperTIGER_Skype2_best.mp4 (1280x720) [1.2 GB] || SuperTIGER_Skype2.webm (1280x720) [135.1 MB] || SuperTIGER_Skype2_SRT_Captions.en_US.srt [22.5 KB] || SuperTIGER_Skype2_SRT_Captions.en_US.vtt [22.5 KB] ||
- ID: 11209 Produced Video
Fermi Proves Supernova Remnants Produce Cosmic Rays
Go to this pageA new study using observations from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope reveals the first clear-cut evidence that the expanding debris of exploded stars produces some of the fastest-moving matter in the universe. This discovery is a major step toward meeting one of Fermi's primary mission goals.Cosmic rays are subatomic particles that move through space at nearly the speed of light. About 90 percent of them are protons, with the remainder consisting of electrons and atomic nuclei. In their journey across the galaxy, the electrically charged particles become deflected by magnetic fields. This scrambles their paths and makes it impossible to trace their origins directly.Through a variety of mechanisms, these speedy particles can lead to the emission of gamma rays, the most powerful form of light and a signal that travels to us directly from its sources.Two supernova remnants, known as IC 443 and W44, are expanding into cold, dense clouds of interstellar gas. This material emits gamma rays when struck by high-speed particles escaping the remnants.Scientists have been unable to ascertain which particle is responsible for this emission because cosmic-ray protons and electrons give rise to gamma rays with similar energies. Now, after analyzing four years of data, Fermi scientists see a gamma-ray feature from both remnants that, like a fingerprint, proves the culprits are protons.When cosmic-ray protons smash into normal protons, they produce a short-lived particle called a neutral pion. The pion quickly decays into a pair of gamma rays. This emission falls within a specific band of energies associated with the rest mass of the neutral pion, and it declines steeply toward lower energies. Detecting this low-end cutoff is clear proof that the gamma rays arise from decaying pions formed by protons accelerated within the supernova remnants.In 1949, the Fermi telescope's namesake, physicist Enrico Fermi, suggested that the highest-energy cosmic rays were accelerated in the magnetic fields of interstellar gas clouds. In the decades that followed, astronomers showed that supernova remnants were the galaxy's best candidate sites for this process.?A charged particle trapped in a supernova remnant's magnetic field moves randomly throughout it and occasionally crosses through the explosion's leading shock wave. Each round trip through the shock ramps up the particle's speed by about 1 percent. After many crossings, the particle obtains enough energy to break free and escapes into the galaxy as a newborn cosmic ray. The Fermi discovery builds on a strong hint of neutral pion decay in W44 observed by the Italian Space Agency's AGILE gamma-ray observatory and published in late 2011.Watch this video on YouTube. ||
- ID: 10566 Produced Video
Fermi Explores Supernova Remnants
Go to this pageFermi's Large Area Telescope (LAT) resolved gamma rays with energies a billion times greater than that of visible light from supernova remnants of different ages and in different environments. W51C, W44 and IC 443 are middle-aged remnants between 4,000 and 30,000 years old. The youngest remnant, Cassiopeia A, is only 330 years old and appears to the LAT as a point source. The images bring astronomers a step closer to understanding the source of some of the universe's most energetic particles — cosmic rays. The emissions are likely the result of accelerated protons interacting with nearby gas clouds, but other possibilities have not been eliminated. Astrophysicists believe that supernova remnants are the galaxy's best candidate sites for cosmic-ray acceleration. These observations provide further validation to the notion that supernova remnants act as enormous accelerators for cosmic particles. ||
- ID: 20186 Animation
Cosmic Rays and the Heliopause
Go to this pageThis animation shows how variations in the size of the heliosphere affect how many cosmic rays reach Earth. As the heliosphere expands, it blocks more cosmic rays, and as it contracts, more cosmic rays get through and can affect astronauts and satellites. ||
- ID: 10567 Produced Video
How Cosmic-ray Protons Make Gamma rays
Go to this pageIn the simplest and most common interaction, a cosmic-ray proton strikes another proton. The protons survive the collision, but their interaction creates an unstable particle — a pion — with only 14 percent the mass of a proton. In 10 millionths of a billionth of a second, the pion decays into a pair of gamma-ray photons. More complex scenarios occur when cosmic-ray protons strike nuclei containing greater numbers of particles. ||
- ID: 10690 Produced Video
How to make a gamma ray
Go to this pageA series of animations showing how gamma rays can be created through various particle interactions. ||
Neutrinos
- ID: 12994 Produced Video
NASA's Fermi Links Cosmic Neutrino to Monster Black Hole
Go to this pageThe discovery of a high-energy neutrino on Sept. 22, 2017, sent astronomers on a chase to locate its source -- a supermassive black hole in a distant galaxy. Watch to learn more.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight CenterMusic: "Hidden Tides" from Killer TracksWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. || Blazar.00590_print.jpg (1024x576) [61.2 KB] || Blazar.00590.png (3840x2160) [5.2 MB] || Blazar.00590.jpg (3840x2160) [536.3 KB] || Blazar.00590_searchweb.png (320x180) [46.6 KB] || Blazar.00590_thm.png (80x40) [4.6 KB] || 12994_Fermi_Blazar_Neutrino_1080p.mov (1920x1080) [229.5 MB] || 12994_Fermi_Blazar_Neutrino_1080.mp4 (1920x1080) [154.8 MB] || 12994_Fermi_Blazar_Neutrino_1080p.webm (1920x1080) [17.1 MB] || 12994_Fermi_Blazar_Neutrino_ProRes_4k_2997.mov (3840x2160) [6.5 GB] || 12994_Fermi_Blazar_Neutrino_4K.mov (3840x2160) [445.0 MB] || 12994_Fermi_Blazar_Neutrino_H264_4k_2997.mp4 (3840x2160) [380.3 MB] || 12994_Fermi_Blazar_Neutrino_SRT_Captions.en_US.srt [2.8 KB] || 12994_Fermi_Blazar_Neutrino_SRT_Captions.en_US.vtt [2.7 KB] ||
- ID: 20281 Animation
Blazar Animations
Go to this pageThis animation shows the central supermassive black hole of a blazar. The black hole is surrounded by a bright accretion disk and a darker torus of gas and dust. A bright jet of particles emerges from above and below the black hole. Collisions within the jet produce high-energy photons such as gamma rays. A flare from the blazar results in an additional burst of gamma rays and neutrinos. || BlazarProRes.00801_print.jpg (1024x576) [56.1 KB] || BlazarProRes.00801_searchweb.png (320x180) [63.8 KB] || BlazarProRes.00801_thm.png (80x40) [5.3 KB] || Blazar_1080_h264.mov (1920x1080) [46.2 MB] || BlazarProRes.mov (3840x2160) [3.0 GB] || Blazar_4444.mov (3840x2160) [6.2 GB] || frames/3840x2160_16x9_60p/Blazar_frames/ (3840x2160) [64.0 KB] || BlazarProRes.webm (3840x2160) [4.2 MB] ||
- ID: 12218 Produced Video
Fermi Helps Link a Cosmic Neutrino to a Blazar Outburst
Go to this pageNASA Goddard scientist Roopesh Ojha explains how Fermi and TANAMI uncovered the first plausible link between a blazar eruption and a neutrino from deep space. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight CenterWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. || UniverseHD1845_print.jpg (1024x576) [135.3 KB] || UniverseHD1845_searchweb.png (320x180) [85.8 KB] || UniverseHD1845_web.png (320x180) [85.8 KB] || UniverseHD1845_thm.png (80x40) [6.3 KB] || 12218_Fermi_Blazar_Neutrino_ProRes_1920x1080_2997.mov (1920x1080) [3.6 GB] || 12218_Fermi_Blazar_Neutrino_H264_Best_1920x1080_2997.mov (1920x1080) [2.3 GB] || 12218_Fermi_Blazar_Neutrino_H264_Good_1920x1080_2997.mov (1920x1080) [315.8 MB] || 12218_Fermi_Blazar_Neutrino_FINAL_youtube_hq.mov (1920x1080) [1.3 GB] || 12218_Fermi_Blazar_Neutrino.mp4 (1920x1080) [292.0 MB] || 12218_Fermi_Blazar_Neutrino_FINAL_appletv.m4v (1280x720) [138.0 MB] || UniverseHD1845.tif (1920x1080) [7.9 MB] || 12218_Fermi_Blazar_Neutrino_FINAL_appletv_subtitles.m4v (1280x720) [138.1 MB] || 12218_Fermi_Blazar_Neutrino_FINAL_appletv.webm (1280x720) [30.3 MB] || 12218_Fermi_Blazar_Neutrino_SRT_Captions.en_US.srt [4.8 KB] || 12218_Fermi_Blazar_Neutrino_SRT_Captions.en_US.vtt [4.8 KB] || 12218_Fermi_Blazar_Neutrino_FINAL_lowres.mp4 (480x272) [38.6 MB] ||
- ID: 30576 Hyperwall Visual
X-ray Telescopes Find Black Hole May Be a Neutrino Factory
Go to this pageA Chandra X-ray telescope image of Sagittarius-A || chandra_sagittarius_a_20150105_print.jpg (1024x576) [116.5 KB] || chandra_sagittarius_a_20150105_searchweb.png (320x180) [74.8 KB] || chandra_sagittarius_a_20150105_web.png (320x180) [74.8 KB] || chandra_sagittarius_a_20150105_thm.png (80x40) [5.7 KB] || chandra_sagittarius_a_20150105_1080p.mp4 (1920x1080) [636.7 KB] || chandra_sagittarius_a_20150105_720p.webm (1280x720) [290.3 KB] || chandra_sagittarius_a_20150105_720p.mp4 (1280x720) [319.4 KB] || chandra_sagittarius_a_20150105_2160p.mp4 (3840x2160) [1.8 MB] || chandra_sagittarius_a_20150105_360p.mp4 (640x360) [94.2 KB] || chandra_sagittarius_a_20150105.tif (3840x2160) [7.3 MB] ||
Gravitational Waves
- ID: 12740 Produced Video
Doomed Neutron Stars Create Blast of Light and Gravitational Waves
Go to this pageThis animation captures phenomena observed over the course of nine days following the neutron star merger known as GW170817, detected on Aug. 17, 2017. They include gravitational waves (pale arcs), a near-light-speed jet that produced gamma rays (magenta), expanding debris from a kilonova that produced ultraviolet (violet), optical and infrared (blue-white to red) emission, and, once the jet directed toward us expanded into our view from Earth, X-rays (blue). Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/CI LabMusic: "Exploding Skies" from Killer TracksWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. || Neutron_Star_Merger_Still_2_new_1080.png (1920x1080) [2.5 MB] || Neutron_Star_Merger_Still_2_new_1080.jpg (1920x1080) [167.3 KB] || Neutron_Star_Merger_Still_2_new_print.jpg (1024x576) [50.4 KB] || Neutron_Star_Merger_Still_2_new.png (3840x2160) [7.7 MB] || Neutron_Star_Merger_Still_2_new.jpg (3840x2160) [1.0 MB] || Neutron_Star_Merger_Still_2_new_searchweb.png (320x180) [51.4 KB] || Neutron_Star_Merger_Still_2_new_thm.png (80x40) [4.4 KB] || 12740_NS_Merger_Update_H264_1080.mp4 (1920x1080) [96.9 MB] || 12740_NS_Merger_Update_1080p.mov (1920x1080) [101.9 MB] || 12740_NS_Merger_Update_1080.m4v (1920x1080) [50.3 MB] || 12740_NS_Merger_4k_Update_ProRes_3840x2160_5994.mov (3840x2160) [5.1 GB] || 12740_NS_Merger_4k_Update_H264.mov (3840x2160) [516.7 MB] || 12740_NS_Merger_4k_Update_H264.mp4 (3840x2160) [254.9 MB] || NS_Merger_SRT_Captions.en_US.srt [417 bytes] || NS_Merger_SRT_Captions.en_US.vtt [399 bytes] || 12740_NS_Merger_4k_Update.webm (3840x2160) [10.0 MB] ||
- ID: 12741 Produced Video
Astrophysics Live Shot 10.17.2017
Go to this pageLive shot b-rollFor more information see: NASA Missions Catch First Light From A Gravitational-Wave-Event || 014_Broll.00001_print.jpg (1024x576) [111.1 KB] || 014_Broll.00001_searchweb.png (320x180) [78.4 KB] || 014_Broll.00001_thm.png (80x40) [6.8 KB] || 014_Broll.mov (1280x720) [4.2 GB] || 014_Broll.webm (1280x720) [30.2 MB] || 014_Broll.mp4 (1280x720) [469.2 MB] || 014_Broll_2.mov (1280x720) [4.2 GB] ||
- ID: 30569 Hyperwall Visual
Listening to the Universe with Gravitational Waves
Go to this pageFirst image in presentation. || 2014_aas_ira_thorpe_01_title_slide_print.jpg (1024x574) [63.5 KB] || 2014_aas_ira_thorpe_01_title_slide.png (4104x2304) [2.3 MB] || 2014_aas_ira_thorpe_01_title_slide_searchweb.png (320x180) [28.0 KB] || 2014_aas_ira_thorpe_01_title_slide_web.png (320x179) [28.0 KB] || 2014_aas_ira_thorpe_01_title_slide_thm.png (80x40) [2.8 KB] || Dr. Ira Thorpe's AAS presentation from 2015 ||
- ID: 12216 Produced Video
NASA's Fermi Preps to Narrow Down Gravitational Wave Sources
Go to this pageFermi's GBM saw a fading X-ray flash at nearly the same moment LIGO detected gravitational waves from a black hole merger in 2015. This movie shows how scientists can narrow down the location of the LIGO source on the assumption that the burst is connected to it. In this case, the LIGO search area is reduced by two-thirds. Greater improvements are possible in future detections.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Watch this video on the NASAgovVideo YouTube channel. || LIGO_GBM_Common_only_Earth.png (1920x1080) [4.2 MB] || LIGO_GBM_Common_only_Earth_print.jpg (1024x576) [168.3 KB] || LIGO_GBM_Common_only_Earth_searchweb.png (320x180) [97.0 KB] || LIGO_GBM_Common_only_Earth_web.png (320x180) [97.0 KB] || LIGO_GBM_Common_only_Earth_thm.png (80x40) [6.6 KB] || Fermi_LIGO_GBM_localizations_H264_YouTube_1080p.mp4 (1920x1080) [82.8 MB] || Fermi_LIGO_GBM_localizations_H264_720p.mp4 (1280x720) [35.4 MB] || Fermi_LIGO_GBM_localizations_ProRes_1920x1080_30.mov (1920x1080) [431.3 MB] || Fermi_LIGO_GBM_localizations_H264_720p.webm (1280x720) [2.3 MB] || 12216_Fermi_LIGO_Localization_ProRes_7282x4096_30.mov (7282x4096) [6.0 GB] || 12216_Fermi_LIGO_Localization_4K.m4v (3840x2160) [140.3 MB] || 12216_Fermi_LIGO_Localization_4K.mov (4096x2304) [90.6 MB] ||
- ID: 10142 Produced Video
Gravitational Waves from Black Holes
Go to this pageA gravitational wave is a theoretical fluctuation in the curvature of spacetime caused by the movement of incredibly massive objects. In this animation, two massive black holes orbit each other, creating gravitational waves. ||
- ID: 11086 Produced Video
Simulations Uncover 'Flashy' Secrets of Merging Black Holes
Go to this pageAccording to Einstein, whenever massive objects interact, they produce gravitational waves — distortions in the very fabric of space and time — that ripple outward across the universe at the speed of light. While astronomers have found indirect evidence of these disturbances, the waves have so far eluded direct detection. Ground-based observatories designed to find them are on the verge of achieving greater sensitivities, and many scientists think that this discovery is just a few years away. Catching gravitational waves from some of the strongest sources — colliding black holes with millions of times the sun's mass — will take a little longer. These waves undulate so slowly that they won't be detectable by ground-based facilities. Instead, scientists will need much larger space-based instruments, such as the proposed Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, which was endorsed as a high-priority future project by the astronomical community. A team that includes astrophysicists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., is looking forward to that day by using computational models to explore the mergers of supersized black holes. Their most recent work investigates what kind of "flash" might be seen by telescopes when astronomers ultimately find gravitational signals from such an event. To explore the problem, a team led by Bruno Giacomazzo at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and including Baker developed computer simulations that for the first time show what happens in the magnetized gas (also called a plasma) in the last stages of a black hole merger. In the turbulent environment near the merging black holes, the magnetic field intensifies as it becomes twisted and compressed. The team suggests that running the simulation for additional orbits would result in even greater amplification. The most interesting outcome of the magnetic simulation is the development of a funnel-like structure — a cleared-out zone that extends up out of the accretion disk near the merged black hole. The most important aspect of the study is the brightness of the merger's flash. The team finds that the magnetic model produces beamed emission that is some 10,000 times brighter than those seen in previous studies, which took the simplifying step of ignoring plasma effects in the merging disks. ||
- ID: 12264 Produced Video
LISA Pathfinder Spaceflight Experiment a Rousing Success
Go to this pageThe LISA Pathfinder mission is an ESA-led effort to demonstrate technologies for a future gravitational wave observatory in space. NASA Goddard astrophysicist Ira Thorpe, a member of the team, discusses the mission and its spectacular results so far. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. || LPF_Still.png (1920x1080) [3.1 MB] || LPF_Still_print.jpg (1024x576) [110.1 KB] || LPF_Still_searchweb.png (320x180) [98.0 KB] || LPF_Still_thm.png (80x40) [9.8 KB] || 12264_LISA_Pathfinder_Final_ProRes_1920x1080_2997.mov (1920x1080) [3.6 GB] || YOUTUBE_HQ_12264_LISA_Pathfinder_Final_youtube_hq.mov (1920x1080) [1.2 GB] || 12264_LISA_Pathfinder_Final-HD_1080p.mov (1920x1080) [409.0 MB] || 12264_LISA_Pathfinder_Final-Apple_Devices_HD_Best.m4v (1920x1080) [272.7 MB] || 12264_LISA_Pathfinder_Final_appletv.m4v (1280x720) [138.6 MB] || 12264_LISA_Pathfinder_Final_large.mp4 (1920x1080) [278.0 MB] || 12264_LISA_Pathfinder_Final_appletv_subtitles.m4v (1280x720) [138.7 MB] || 12264_LISA_Pathfinder_Final_appletv.webm (1280x720) [24.4 MB] || 12264_LISA_Pathfinder_SRT_Captions.en_US.srt [5.6 KB] || 12264_LISA_Pathfinder_SRT_Captions.en_US.vtt [5.6 KB] ||