Visualizing Stars and Emission Nebulas |
| |
| Authors: | David R Nadeau Jon D Genetti Steve Napear Bernard Pailthorpe Carter Emmart Erik Wesselak & Dennis Davidson |
| |
| Affiliation: | San Diego Supercomputer Center, University of California, USA,;Hayden Planetarium, American Museum of Natural History, USA,;Davidson Digital Design, USA |
| |
| Abstract: | We describe star and nebula visualization techniques used to create a 3D volumetric visualization of the Orion Nebula. The nebula's ionization layer is modeled first as a surface model, derived from infrared and visible light observations. The surface model is imported into a volume scene graph-based visualization system that uses procedural volume modeling to simulate the nebula's emissive gas layers. Additional scene graphs model proplyds and shock fronts within the nebula. Stars are rendered using Gaussian spots that are attenuated with distance. Finally, eighty-six separate volumes are voxelized from these scene graphs, then simultaneously volume rendered. |
| |
| Keywords: | displacement mapping graphics hardware hardware architectures image synthesis |
|
|
