An Interactive CG Animation System for Visualization of Space Phenomena, and Application to the Collision of the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter

Abstract

In this paper, we describe a system to generate CG animation as an introduction for space phenomena. We are currently able to obtain a great deal of information and data on phenomena on computer networks, but each item of information is independent and we are unable to understand the complete phenomena. Our visualization system is able to provide CG animation, using the latest information, showing phenomena which are usually invisible. This system has three functions, data integration, CG generation and interactive operation. Using these functions, we arbitrarily can observe space phenomena based on information available through the network through the interactive use of a mouse. To illustrate the system's usability, we made CG animation on the behavior of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 that collided with Jupiter on July 1994.