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Space Supercomputing

Using Supercomputers To Predict Signs of Black Holes Swallowing Stars 31

Posted by samzenpus
from the hungry-hungry-black-holes dept.
aarondubrow (1866212) writes "A 'tidal disruption' occurs when a star orbits too close to a black hole and gets sucked in. The phenomenon is accompanied by a bright flare with a unique signature that changes over time. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are using Stampede and other NSF-supported supercomputers to simulate tidal disruptions in order to better understand the dynamics of the process. Doing so helps astronomers find many more possible candidates of tidal disruptions in sky surveys and will reveal details of how stars and black holes interact."
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Using Supercomputers To Predict Signs of Black Holes Swallowing Stars

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  • Ah! Now it makes sense. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by 140Mandak262Jamuna (970587) on Monday April 14, 2014 @02:05PM (#46749463) Journal
    There was a electromagnetic simulation software called Ansoft-HFSS. Most structures it dealt with were IC chips, packages, PCBs and antennae. Most of these were drawn in microns, or mils (milli inches, don't ask), mm or at the most in meters. But the drop down box for unit selection went all the way to light years. I thought must be some inside joke, some user must have complained some unit was not available and the developer, in a fit of indignation, must have added every damned length units he/she could find. Now it makes sense. You can use that software to simulate black holes gobbling up stars.

APL is a write-only language. I can write programs in APL, but I can't read any of them. -- Roy Keir

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