Walking Through an Exploded Star: Rendering Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A into Virtual Reality
This provides an innovative educational and research tool for astrophysics and public outreach, though it is incremental in applying existing VR/AR technologies to new astronomical data.
The researchers tackled the challenge of visualizing the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant by creating a 3D VR/AR program, resulting in the first data-driven experience that allows users to interactively explore the 340-year-old stellar remains.
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.