3D reconstruction of planetary nebulae using hybrid models

IEEE Trans. Visual. Comput. Graphics

et al. 2011

Self Cite

198

193

Abstract-We present a flexible interactive 3D morpho-kinematical modeling application for astrophysics. Compared to other systems, our application reduces the restrictions on the physical assumptions, data type and amount that is required for a reconstruction of an object's morphology. It is one of the first publicly available tools to apply interactive graphics to astrophysical modeling. The tool allows astrophysicists to provide a-priori knowledge about the object by interactively defining 3D structural elements. By direct comparison of model prediction with observational data, model parameters can then be automatically optimized to fit the observation. The tool has already been successfully used in a number of astrophysical research projects.

Section: Automatic Reconstruction Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shape: A 3D Modeling Tool for Astrophysics

Steffen

Koning

IEEE Trans. Visual. Comput. Graphics

et al. 2011

Self Cite

198

193

“…Methods specifically targeting asymmetric nebulae, on the other hand, were not able to resolve the ambiguity in purely emissive objects like planetary nebulae [MHLH05]. The first method combining symmetry‐based reconstruction with an ad‐hoc method for the preservation of asymmetries was still prone to artifacts and did not scale well to higher resolutions [WAFMM09].…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fast Image‐Based Modeling of Astronomical Nebulae

Computer Graphics Forum

Lorenz

Magnor

2013

Self Cite

Astronomical nebulae are among the most complex and visually appealing phenomena known outside the bounds of the Solar System. However, our fixed vantage point on Earth limits us to a single known view of these objects, and their intricate volumetric structure cannot be recovered directly. Recent approaches to reconstructing a volumetric 3D model use the approximate symmetry inherent to many nebulae, but require several hours of computation time on large multi-GPU clusters. We present a novel reconstruction algorithm based on group sparsity that reaches or even exceeds the quality of prior results while taking only a fraction of the time on a conventional desktop PC, thereby enabling end users in planetariums or educational facilities to produce high-quality content without expensive hardware or manual modeling. In principle, our approach can be generalized to other transparent phenomena with arbitrary types of user-specified symmetries.

“…Automated methods for the reconstruction and visualization of asymmetric reflection nebulae [18] suffer from a similar lack of detail and are not applicable for translucent objects, such as most planetary nebulae. Although it is theoretically possible to introduce artificial asymmetry and detail into the reconstruction results [36], this process is as complex as the original reconstruction problem and often results in unappealing visual artifacts like streaks and implausible clusters of emission.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visualization of Astronomical Nebulae via Distributed Multi-GPU Compressed Sensing Tomography

IEEE Trans. Visual. Comput. Graphics

Ament

Guthe

et al. 2012

(a) (b) (c) (d) Fig. 1. The planetary nebula M2-9 is a typical example of a bipolar nebula. Its quasi-symmetric twin lobes of ionized material emanate from a binary star system in its center. Assuming axial symmetry, our reconstruction algorithm uses a single input image (a) to produce a high-resolution 3D visualization that closely resembles the original image when rendered from the same viewpoint (b). From a novel vantage point, the emission along the principal axis of the nebula accumulates and creates a luminous halo (c). As the vantage point approaches the symmetry axis, the received intensity further increases and the perceived shape of the nebula changes toward two entangled rings (d). The resolution of the reconstructed volume is 512 3 voxels. Original image: Bruce Balick (University of Washington), Vincent Icke (Leiden University, The Netherlands), Garrelt Mellema (Stockholm University), and NASA.Abstract-The 3D visualization of astronomical nebulae is a challenging problem since only a single 2D projection is observable from our fixed vantage point on Earth. We attempt to generate plausible and realistic looking volumetric visualizations via a tomographic approach that exploits the spherical or axial symmetry prevalent in some relevant types of nebulae. Different types of symmetry can be implemented by using different randomized distributions of virtual cameras. Our approach is based on an iterative compressed sensing reconstruction algorithm that we extend with support for position-dependent volumetric regularization and linear equality constraints. We present a distributed multi-GPU implementation that is capable of reconstructing high-resolution datasets from arbitrary projections. Its robustness and scalability are demonstrated for astronomical imagery from the Hubble Space Telescope. The resulting volumetric data is visualized using direct volume rendering. Compared to previous approaches, our method preserves a much higher amount of detail and visual variety in the 3D visualization, especially for objects with only approximate symmetry.