Other ways to use sprites

[Cham]

Sprites can also be usefull as "super-markers", when used as single spherical blobs. Since a sprite is growing when the observer is approaching, it may have some uses that a simple marker can't have. See the example below.

I "super-marked" all the galaxies in the Local Group using a sprite (the colors are encoding the galaxy's type). The sprite size is the same as the galaxy it represents, so we have the impression that the galaxies are enclosed in a kind of glass ball (hmmm, maybe I should raise a bit the transparency of the super-markers, since we don't see much the Magellan Clouds in their green ball). The blue cross shown on the picture below is the Local Group's center of mass. A CELX script is toggling all the super-markers ON and OFF.

The super-markers are also giving an impression of "spotlight" directed on each galaxy.

localGroup.jpg

The 3D effect of the super-markers is really cool. Simple markers can't give the same effect.

We may also use the same technique on important nebulae in the Milky Way, Planetary Nebulae, etc... especially if we don't have a realistic model or billboard for them. The only sad point is the white dot we get at very large distance (please, Chris, ...), so we need to toggle them ON/OFF using a CELX script.