Tag Archives: Visualization

New Orbit Visualizations for the JPL Small-Body Database Browser

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I frequently refer to the JPL Small-Body Database Browser for information on asteroids and comets. The website has brand new visualization software that beautifully displays the orbits of asteroids and comets, and allows you to zoom and rotate-around easily using the mouse – the same way as in NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System. So what’s the first thing I did when I found out about this? I searched for my wife’s asteroid: 117852 Constance: You can set the date from 1600-2199, select which major solar system bodies you’d like to see, take screen-shots, and view a time-lapse of the body orbiting the Sun. About the only thing the new tool does not have (and I wish it did) is the ability to capture a short animated-GIF when you play-forward a time-lapse. “The primary developer, Kevin Gill, deserves the major credit for this new tool.” – Dr. Alan B. Chamberlin/JPL Kevin: Good Job! I had to stop myself from playing with the new tool several times as … Continue reading →

3D Flight Through the Orion Nebula

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Astronomers and visualization specialists from NASA’s Universe of Learning program have combined visible and infrared vision of the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes to create an unprecedented, three-dimensional, fly-through view of the picturesque Orion Nebula, a nearby star-forming region. Viewers experience this nearby stellar nursery “up close and personal” as the new digital visualization ferries them among newborn stars, glowing clouds heated by intense radiation, and tadpole-shaped gaseous envelopes surrounding protoplanetary disks. Using actual scientific imagery and other data, combined with Hollywood techniques, a team at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, and the Caltech/Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) in Pasadena, California, has created the best and most detailed multi-wavelength visualization yet of this photogenic nebula. The fly-through enables people to experience and learn about the universe in an exciting new way. The three-minute movie, which shows the Orion Nebula in both visible and infrared light, was released to the public today. It is available to planetariums and … Continue reading →