Numerical applications in modern astrophysics

In our time, scientific measurements are becoming increasingly data intensive, and computers have become indispensable for their management. These computers become the everyday devices in our lives, and serious calculations can also be done by personal computers. With this, the numerical methods become readily available. Complex problems can almost only be modeled numerically, so these problems can be handled with finite precision. One application is the lightcurve and spectra modeling of supernova explosions, from this the physical parameters of the exploding star, such as ejected mass, radius and energies can be determined. To this day, there is considerable research into the physics of supernova explosions, because it allows us to study extreme physical phenomena. Another application is to model the measured fluxes of exomoons (moons of planets orbiting other stars), and thus determining their chances of detection. Although many exoplanets are known, none of exomoon are known (only candidates). Yet another application is modeling the orbits of small bodies in the Solar or other systems. Solving the N-body problem is only possible numerically.