SXS Simulation Video Featured on BBC Earth

BBC Earth recently featured a video that simulates the collision of two black holes, produced by the Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes (SXS) collaboration.

Black holes are formed by the collapse of massive stars; their gravitational pull is so strong that not even light can escape. If they occur in pairs, they emit intense gravitational energy, causing them to spiral inwards and eventually collide. At CITA, a team of researchers including graduate students and postdocs, use computer calculations to understand black holes and collisions between pairs of black holes. CITA is a node of the SXS collaboration that simulates black holes and other extreme spacetimes to gain a better understanding  of the properties of the gravitational waves that fill our universe.

Watch another simulation video of a black hole collision here.