Adam Block's Latest View of the Universe:
M22
RELEASED 2025-08-05

Previous Release

Click on image below for the full version (large! Really..this is only a small part...) 
AMAZING! Please see the bottom of the page for an N-body Simulation I created for you to play with!

• Optics                                          RCOS 24" f/7.8 Carbon Truss Ritchey-Chrétien (Harris Telescope)
• Camera                                       QHY 600
• Filters                                           Chroma
• Date                                             July  2025
• Location                                      ObsTech, El Sauce, Chile
• Exposures                                   RGB   =  16  :  16 :  16  :  Minutes
• Acquisition                                  Taurus 700 Paramount, TheSkyX,  NINA
• Processing                                  PixInsight (including BXT)
• Credit Line & Copyright            Adam Block 

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3D N‑Body Simulation By Adam Block

(with lots of help from ChatGPT-5)

Units: AU Years M☉ · Integrator: Leapfrog (Velocity Verlet). G = 4π².

Stars200

O(N²) gravity — realtime usually ≤ ~400.

Mass min [M☉]

Mass max [M☉]

Uniform in [min,max]. Set equal ⇒ identical masses.

Initial radius r₀ [AU]100

Initial velocities Zero Small random Approx. circular (virialized‑ish)

Softening ε [AU]

Kernel Plummer: 1/√(r²+ε²) Hard cutoff: F=0 if r<ε (U clamped)

Δt [yr]

Steps / frame

Metrics every N frames

Seed

Auto‑rotate camera

Color mode Blackbody by mass Blackbody random White

Saturation [%]300%

Star size min [px]

Star size max [px]

Trails length (frames/∞)

Off

Trail frames (type)

Trail width [%]

50%

Metrics

Kinetic (K) Potential (U) Total (E) E₀ (dashed)

Energy isn’t perfectly conserved here. A finite time step (Δt), a softening length (ε), and the optional hard‑cutoff kernel are approximations that introduce numerical error. The green total energy (E) can drift from the dashed baseline E₀. Smaller Δt and Plummer softening usually improve conservation.

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