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The Journey of the Sun -- A Virtual Reality Simulatin: Data-Constrained Modeling and Visualization of Interstellar Matter in our Galaxy
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| The richness of objects in the two-dimensional sky overhead belies the sparceness of space. The objective of this proposal is ti give context to this empty space by reconstruction and visualizing the Galactic surroundings of the Sun and nearby stars, including both spatial variations and temporal changes, such as stellar motions and the movement of interstellar matter (ISM) through space. The proposed research provides a new approach to data-interpretation by integrating multispectral ISM data (e.g., absorption and emission lines) with astrometric data on stellar motions to create coherent data-constrained models for 3D volumetric fields of the ISM in the Galactic neighborhood of the Sun. State-of-the-art computer techniques are used to manipulate, interact with, and visualize these models. The proposed tools and software can be extended to reconstruct 3-dimensional models of the volume distribution of any material giving rise to absorption lines, provided the distances of the background target objects are known. Our strategy is to merge cloud positions and velocities from the absorption data with two-dimensional emission line data (e.g., the HI 21-cm line) to fill in regions not sampled by the absorption lines. We will develop model visualization techniques that will use virtual reality methods augmented to handle continuous space-time navigation over scale sizes ranging from 1 AU to many megaparsecs. A single simulation could show the orbits of near-earth asteroids at a few AU from the Sun, the space-trajectories of the stars in Orion, the distribution of galaxies measured by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and a 3D visualization of the Hubble Deep Field objects for which redshifts are available. The proposed research supports the National Virtual Observatory concept by providing computer-assisted methods for interpretation of ISM emission and absorption data, and by producing new methods for visualizing these data using virtual reality simulations and navigation tools adapted to the large spacetime scale ranges required for astronomical applications. |
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