Walking Through an Exploded Star: Rendering Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A into Virtual Reality
Abstract
NASA and other astrophysical data of the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant have been rendered into a three-dimensional virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) program, the first of its kind. This data-driven experience of a supernova remnant allows viewers to walk inside the leftovers from the explosion of a massive star, select the parts of the supernova remnant to engage with, and access descriptive texts on what the materials are. The basis of this program is a unique 3D model of the 340-year old remains of a stellar explosion, made by combining data from the NASA Chandra X-ray Observatory, Spitzer Space Telescope, and ground-based facilities. A collaboration between the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and Brown University allowed the 3D astronomical data collected on Cassiopeia A to be featured in the VR/AR program, which is an innovation in digital technologies with public, education, and research-based impacts.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1812.06237,
title = {Walking Through an Exploded Star: Rendering Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A into Virtual Reality},
author = {Kimberly K. Arcand and Elaine Jiang and Sara Price and Megan Watzke and Tom Sgouros and Peter Edmonds},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1812.06237},
year = {2018}
}
Comments
20 pages, 6 figures