RenderableSolarImagery

Inherits Renderable

A RenderableSolarImagery renders time-sequenced solar observations from spacecraft instruments as textured planes in 3D space. The renderable automatically displays the image corresponding to the current simulation time.

Multiple instruments are supported (e.g., AIA-171, AIA-193, EUVI-A-171), and the active instrument can be selected via the ActiveInstrument property.

For optimal performance, images are decoded asynchronously in the background and cached to disk. When changing time, the previous image remains visible until the new one is ready. The renderable also predicts and pre-loads nearby frames based on playback direction to ensure smooth playback.

The DownsamplingLevel property can be used to reduce image resolution for improved performance. A value of 0 uses full resolution, while higher values progressively reduce the resolution (1 = half, 2 = quarter, etc.).

Visual adjustments can be made via color mapping (transfer functions), gamma, and contrast controls. Coronagraph instruments can optionally display a frustum visualization.

Members

Name	Documentation	Type	Description	Optional
ImageDirectory	The root directory containing solar imagery organized by instrument. Each subdirectory represents an instrument and contains its observation images.	Directory	Value of type ‘Directory’	No
Contrast	Contrast of the current spacecraft imagery.	Double	Value of type ‘Double’	Yes
DimInAtmosphere	Decides if the object should be dimmed (i.e. faded out) when the camera is in the sunny part of an atmosphere.	Boolean	Value of type ‘Boolean’	Yes
DownsamplingLevel	Controls how much to downsample the original data (0 is original resolution).	Integer	Value of type ‘Integer’	Yes
EnableBorder	Enables border around the current spacecraft imagery.	Boolean	Value of type ‘Boolean’	Yes
Enabled	Determines whether this object will be visible or not.	Boolean	Value of type ‘Boolean’	Yes
EnableFrustum	Enables frustum around the current spacecraft imagery.	Boolean	Value of type ‘Boolean’	Yes
FaceMode	Specifies how the plane is rendered: front side only, with a solid backside, or textured on both sides.	String	In list { FrontOnly, Solid Back, Double Sided }	Yes
Gamma	Gamma of the current spacecraft imagery.	Double	Value of type ‘Double’	Yes
MoveFactor	Controls how close to the Sun to render the imagery.	Double	Value of type ‘Double’	Yes
Opacity	This value determines the opacity of this renderable. A value of 0 means completely transparent.	Double	In range: ( 0, 1)	Yes
PredictFramesAfter	Determines how many images to pre-fetch after the current image frame.	Integer	Value of type ‘Integer’	Yes
PredictFramesBefore	Determines how many images to pre-fetch before the current image frame.	Integer	Value of type ‘Integer’	Yes
RenderBinMode	A value that specifies if the renderable should be rendered in the Background, Opaque, Pre-/PostDeferredTransparency, Overlay, or Sticker rendering step.	String	In list { Background, Opaque, PreDeferredTransparent, Overlay, PostDeferredTransparent, Sticker }	Yes
StartInstrument	The instrument to display on startup (e.g., “AIA-171”). If not specified, the first available instrument is used.	String	Value of type ‘String’	Yes
Tag	A single tag or a list of tags that this renderable will respond to when setting properties.	Table, or String	Value of type ‘Table’, or Value of type ‘String’	Yes
Type	The type of the renderable.	String	Value of type ‘String’	Yes
VerboseMode	Output information about image decoding.	Boolean	Value of type ‘Boolean’	Yes

Inherited members from Renderable

Name	Documentation	Type	Description	Optional
DimInAtmosphere	Decides if the object should be dimmed (i.e. faded out) when the camera is in the sunny part of an atmosphere.	Boolean	Value of type ‘Boolean’	Yes
Enabled	Determines whether this object will be visible or not.	Boolean	Value of type ‘Boolean’	Yes
Opacity	This value determines the opacity of this renderable. A value of 0 means completely transparent.	Double	In range: ( 0, 1)	Yes
RenderBinMode	A value that specifies if the renderable should be rendered in the Background, Opaque, Pre-/PostDeferredTransparency, Overlay, or Sticker rendering step.	String	In list { Background, Opaque, PreDeferredTransparent, Overlay, PostDeferredTransparent, Sticker }	Yes
Tag	A single tag or a list of tags that this renderable will respond to when setting properties.	Table, or String	Value of type ‘Table’, or Value of type ‘String’	Yes
Type	The type of the renderable.	String	Value of type ‘String’	Yes

Asset Examples

local stereo_a = asset.require("scene/solarsystem/missions/stereo/stereo_a")
local coreKernels = asset.require("spice/core")
local kernels = asset.require("scene/solarsystem/missions/stereo/kernels")



-- We use the Stereo position with an added rotation to stabilize the image and remove
-- any wobble effect since we don't have the CK kernels
local StereoPosition = {
  Identifier = "STEREO_A_Position_Ecliptic",
  Parent = stereo_a.Position.Identifier,
  Transform = {
    -- This rotation removes tiny wobbles and fixes the frame in place
    Rotation = {
      Type = "SpiceRotation",
      SourceFrame = coreKernels.Frame.EclipJ2000,
      DestinationFrame = coreKernels.Frame.Galactic
    }
  },
  GUI = {
    Name = "STEREO A Position",
    Path = "/Solar System/Missions/STEREO A",
    Description = [[The position of the STEREO-A spacecraft with an added rotation to
      reduce wobble effects.]],
    Hidden = true,
    Focusable = false
  }
}

local SolarImagery = {
  Identifier = "SolarImagery_STEREO_A",
  Parent = StereoPosition.Identifier,
  TimeFrame = {
    Type = "TimeFrameInterval",
    Start = stereo_a.MissionBegin,
    End = stereo_a.MissionEnd
  },
  Renderable = {
    Type = "RenderableSolarImagery",
    ImageDirectory = openspace.absPath("${SYNC_DYNAMIC}/solarbrowsing/stereo-a")
  },
  GUI = {
    Name = "STEREO A Imagery",
    Path = "/Solar System/Sun/Solar Imagery",
    Description = [[Time-resolved solar imagery from NASA's Solar TErrestrial RElations
      Observatory (STEREO-A). Images from multiple instruments can be browsed over time and
      are projected onto a plane positioned relative to the Sun. Instrument-specific color
      mappings help highlight different solar phenomena such as active regions, flares,
      and coronal structures.]],
      Focusable = false
  }
}


asset.onInitialize(function ()
  openspace.addSceneGraphNode(StereoPosition)
  openspace.addSceneGraphNode(SolarImagery)
end
)

asset.onDeinitialize(function ()
  openspace.removeSceneGraphNode(SolarImagery)
  openspace.removeSceneGraphNode(StereoPosition)
end
)

asset.export("Imagery", SolarImagery)



asset.meta = {
  Name = "STEREO Solar Imagery",
  Description = [[Time-resolved solar imagery from NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft,
    showing the Sun in multiple wavelengths captured by its onboard instruments.]],
  Author = "OpenSpace Team",
  URL = "https://openspaceproject.com",
  License = "MIT license"
}