UKAFF movies & pictures

With the release of Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), Microsoft have changed the behaviour of Windows Media Player in such a way that AVI files encoded using certain codecs no longer play directly from a clicked link on a web page. This new feature affects a number of the movies on this page.

To play such movies you must download them to your local disc (eg. your C: drive), and play them from there.

Galaxy clusters contain large volumes of hot gas lying between the individual galaxies. UKAFF simulations have helped to show that this gas may be being re-heated by jets of hot gas ejected from the black holes within active galaxies in the cluster. The different colours in the image code regions of different density.

More details in the press release, or Volume 418 of the scientific journal Nature (18th July 2002). Movies of the simulations are available from this web page.

Click on the thumbnails for larger images.

Simulations and images by Marcus Brüggen, International University of Bremen and Christian Kaiser, University of Southampton.

A 50 solar mass gas cloud collapses to form a cluster of brown dwarf stars, some with proto-planetary discs.

Movies and images are available here.

This simulation shows a high-resolution 2D simulation of a Jupiter mass planet starting to clear a gap in a protoplanetary disc.

Available from this page.

Simulations and visualisation by Phil Armitage, University of St. Andrews

Magnetic field evolution in a high resolution 3D MHD simulation of an accretion disc and boundary layer.

Available from this page.

Simulations and visualisation by Phil Armitage, University of St. Andrews

This simulation shows an accretion disc around a white dwarf in a binary star transient system.

Available formats:
AVI optimised for Windows (8.3MB, high-quality)
(Users of Windows XP SP2 see notes here)
AVI optimised for Unix (13.9MB, high-quality)

Simulation performed by Mike Truss, University of Leicester. Visualisation by Richard West, UKAFF.

The merging of two neutron stars is thought to play an important role in the formation of elements heavier than iron.

Movies and images are available here.

This movie shows a simulation of a collision between a red giant and a white dwarf.

When two stars collide they may merge to form a single massive object, or if they hit each other a high speeds they may break each other apart altogether. If the stars have very different sizes the smaller star may plough through the larger, throwing off some of the material.

Movie available as AVI (17MB, moderate quality) and QuickTime (91MB, high quality).
Available as an animated GIF for users without movie playing software.

Simulation performed by Matthew Bate, Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge on the UKAFF computer.

In the binary star system EX Hydrae the two stars are orbiting so close that matter is stripped from the larger (though less massive) star and falls onto its more massive white dwarf companion.

The white dwarf in this system has a magnetic field which is so strong that it disrupts the stream of gas drawn from the companion and funnels it toward the nearest magnetic pole. As the white dwarf rotates with respect to its companion the stream "flip-flops" between the two poles.

Movie available as AVI (17MB, moderate quality) and QuickTime (36MB, high quality).
(Users of Windows XP SP2 see notes here)
Available as an animated GIF for users without movie playing software.

Simulation performed by Graham Wynn, University of Leicester. Visualisation by Richard West, UKAFF.

This simulation shows an accretion disc around a black hole in a soft x-ray transient system. As gas in the disc is accreted into the black hole, the emitted radiation heats the inner regions of the disc, causing even more gas to be accreted. This produces the large outburst which can be seen in the simulated light-curve at the bottom. As the outburst progresses, the density of the disc (shown on the left) falls rapidly inside the heated radius (red) while the emissivity (on the right) in this region simultaneously increases (yellow).

Movie available as AVI (21MB)
Available as an animated GIF for users without movie playing software.

Simulation performed by Mike Truss, University of Leicester. Visualisation by Richard West, UKAFF.