Algebraic 3D Reconstruction of Planetary Nebulae Stephan Wenger, Juan Aja Fernández, Christophe Morisset, Marcus Magnor

Stephan Wenger, Juan Aja Fernández, Christophe Morisset, and Marcus Magnor: "Algebraic 3D Reconstruction of Planetary Nebulae", Journal of WSCG, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 33–40, February 2009. Part of project "3D Reconstruction of Planetary Nebulae". [pdf] [bib]

Abstract

Distant astrophysical objects like planetary nebulae can normally only be observed from a single point of view. Assuming a cylindrically symmetric geometry, one can nevertheless create 3D models of those objects using tomographic methods. We solve the resulting algebraic equations efficiently on graphics hardware. Small deviations from axial symmetry are then corrected using heuristic methods, because the arising 3D models are, in general, no longer unambiguously defined. We visualize the models using real-time volume rendering. Models for actual planetary nebulae created by this approach match the observational data acquired from the earth’s viewpoint, while also looking plausible from other viewpoints for which no experimental data is available.

TU Braunschweig - Fakultät für Mathematik und Informatik - Computer Graphics - Publications - Algebraic 3D Reconstruction of Planetary Nebulae