TULIPS: a Tool for Understanding the Lives, Interiors, and Physics of Stars

TL;DR

TULIPS is an open-source Python tool that creates intuitive, animated visualizations of stellar evolution based on simulation data, aiding research, teaching, and outreach in astrophysics.

Contribution

It introduces a novel visualization method for stellar data that is more intuitive and interactive than traditional static diagrams, optimized for MESA simulations.

Findings

Provides an intuitive circle-based visualization of stellar properties

Enables interactive exploration of star evolution and interior processes

Offers advantages over traditional diagrams like Hertzsprung-Russell and Kippenhahn

Abstract

Understanding the lives and interior structures of stellar objects is a fundamental objective of astrophysics. Research in this domain often relies on the visualization of astrophysical data, for instance, the results of theoretical simulations. However, the diagrams commonly employed to this effect are usually static, complex, and can sometimes be non-intuitive or even counter-intuitive to newcomers in the field. To address some of these issues, this paper introduces TULIPS, a python package that generates novel diagrams and animations of the structure and evolution of stellar objects. TULIPS visualizes the output of one-dimensional physical simulations and is currently optimized for the MESA stellar evolution code. Utilizing the inherent spherical symmetry of such simulations, TULIPS represents the physical properties of stellar objects as the attributes of circles. This enables an intuitive representation of the evolution, energy generation and loss processes, composition, and interior properties of stellar objects, while retaining quantitative information. Users can interact with the output videos and diagrams. The capabilities of TULIPS are showcased by example applications that include a Sun-like star, a massive star, a low-metallicity star, and an accreting white dwarf. Diagrams generated with TULIPS are compared to the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram and to the Kippenhahn diagram, and their advantages and challenges are discussed. TULIPS is open source and free. Aside from being a research tool, it can be used for preparing teaching and public outreach material.