ASIAA/NTU PhD students Wun-Yi Chen (陳文翊) and Po-Sheng Ou (歐柏昇), along with their Supervisor, Dr. Ke-Jung (Ken) Chen (ASIAA), have opened up a series of eye-catching windows for outreaching the team's latest Supernova simulations with supercomputers. Through the interactive website provided by the Open Museum, they explain the beauty and the science of exploding stars - when you "crack open a star"!
*the exhibition is in Chinese only*
Mr. Wun-Yi Chen commented: "We are enthusiastic and proud of this outreach endeavor because we have shown to the general public what scientists' latest thinking towards supernova explosions looks like and we've used a language that even a middle schooler can understand." For example, one of the key messages people should be able to immediately take home is, "there are different types of Supernova!" Wun-Yi says, which might not be readily known to kids of that age.
One of the must-sees in the show are beautiful results generated by simulations, but the reason is far more than that the simulations are eye-catching, Po-Sheng Ou, a member of this project, explains: "it's because we know that simulations really can see what telescopes can't - as telescopes can only stare at the stars for relatively shorter time, plus, it is also true that theoretical works can bring us breakthroughs!"
The exhibition team has also reached out to an award-winning young artist, Hu, Wen-Feng, of the Department of Graphic Arts Communication of the NTUA, for his rendering of a supernova., as shown in the image below.
The painting shows some phenomenon neither an observation nor a simulation of astrophysics can see. It depicts a scenario, where according to theorists, "interactions between shockwaves, glowing materials and clouds should all be at play", Wun-Yi says. (Image credit: Hu, Wen-Feng/ASIAA)
Related Link:
Chinese version: 「2024 開放博物館 - 解析恆星的衰亡與重生」
Press Release of Academia Sinica: https://ascdc.sinica.edu.tw/news/6185
Written by: Lauren Huang/EPO