Carina Nebula

[MindToAsk]

Someone on the forum posted this link: http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/. They have some hi-res images wich could be placed in Celestia. I don't know if there is this nebula -the Carina Nebula (NGC3372)- as a addon for Celestia; if it's not, I would like to create it myself. It's a 2069x3426 res. image. To work with Celestia, this has to be a power of 2 resolution. My question is: can it be 2k by 4k instead of 4k by 2k?
Where can I find info on the position of the nebula?
How can I create a 3ds file for Carina (do I have to use one, or it can be a flat image)?

[Guest]

Now on my disc is allready NGC3372. I think Selden has build this but I can't find it on the web.

Bye Jens

[selden]

Mind,

One place to start might be the Web page http://www.lns.cornell.edu/~seb/celestia/billboard.html, especially Section 5.2 (Eta Car Nebula detail) and Section 5.3 (NGC 3372).

Also, quite some time ago Rassilon created a model of the "Humunculus Nebula", the nebulosity that's around the star Eta Carinae itself. It was designed for Celestia v1.2.5, so it'll need some reorganization to work well with v1.3.1. He included an imaginary planetary system with it, which makes the download rather large. Look for "Eta Carinae System" about 2/3 of the way down the Web page http://www.shatters.net/~rassilon/.

My personal opinion is that none of the attempts mentioned above are ideal. Mine are only 2D and include lots of stars, while the one by Rassilon is only of one tiny region of the nebulosity.

I hope this helps you get started on a fun project!

[MindToAsk]

I've red your billboard.html selden, and I've got my addon working. I now need a hex editor (for winxp) for renaming the link for texture in the 3ds file, cause the notepad won't do it.
Anyone knows where can I get a free one?

[jestr]

Have you tried renaming your new texture the same as the original texture,and putting it in medres?

[MindToAsk]

Yes, jestr. I have a 3ds file with the texture billboard.png associated to it. If I give this name to carina.png, Celestia sees it. But I want to have the name of the nebula for the texture. If I replace billboard.png in the 3ds file with carinaneb.png (carineneb -to have the same number of characters) using notepad the nebula dosen't apear anymore in Celestia; that's why I need a hexeditor.

[jestr]

Whats the name of the model you want to change ? I can make a version of it (if it is one of Seldens) with the 'carina.png' texture and E-mail it or put it on one of my websites for you if you want,cheers Jestr

[MindToAsk]

Selden's 3ds is a square -> 1x1 (eg. 1024x1024) resolution, but I need a rectangle -> 1x2 or 2x1 (eg. 1024x2048, 2048x1024). I need a 3ds file with carina.png. If it's not so hard I would like to learn how to use anim8or for creating my own 3ds files.
I appreciate if you help me with this (till I learn anim8or), jestr.

[jestr]

OK mind ,I've made a box 200X100X0.01 and given it the texture 'carina.png'. I've also UVW mapped this texture to show the same texture-mirrored on the other side.You can get it from here
http://www.geocities.com/jestrjestr/extras
I've not included my texture as I know you have one in mind.I dont know if it will work with a texture 2kx4k in Celestia ,though I dont see why not,let me know how it works out.Also I'm not sure about the orientation of the model-you might have to add an Orientation line in the ssc for it.
I've just tried it with your texture and it worked but the texture was still applied the same orientation,so I made a second model 'carina2.zip' which has the texture mapped the way you want to-also using texture 'carina.png'
Cheers Jestr

[MindToAsk]

ThanxS, jestr. Your model is working fine, though I modified it a bit: I changed the carina.png with carina.jpg (size does matter! ...for up&download). Now I'm working on a 8k*8k addon of the Cone Nebula and Fox Fur Nebula (do I need a new model or I can use a 100x100x10 -square?). But since I don't have a website (yet), I you have to wait to see these nebulae.
Q: Do I need to have an agreement from NOAO if I want to upload the carina addon (for the texture)?

[jestr]

If you want a different model let me know,I should try making your own first though,I dont know much about Animator8,I have been using 3DS MAX for mine.I wouldnt of thought it mattered much about the picture since it is available freely on the website,but I may be wrong,Jestr

[selden]

The internal size of the model doesn't matter:
a) You can use it with any size and resolution of surface texture image so long as the dimensions of the image are a power of two.
b) The picture will be stretched or squeezed to fit onto the surface, so either it should have the same proportions as the model or you should "pre-distort" it so it looks right.
c) Celestia scales the physical dimensions according to the Radius that you specify in the Catalog file.
d) Virtual Textures don't work on DSC Nebula models, so really high resolution images may not fit into smaller graphics cards.

(8Kx8Kx4 = 256MB, so JPEG and PNG versions would require a 512MB graphics card. A DDS version would be smaller and might fit.)

You need to read and understand the copyright pages of the site where you get an image. Some images may not be redistrubuted. Most of the NOAO pictures are allowed to be redistributed, but you must include the credits. Be sure to read their copyright Web page for the details.

[MindToAsk]

I've completed my Fox Fur and Cone Nebula texture, but there's a problem: on the model on wich the texture is applied you can see nebulaes from the backround (this happens using a 8k*8k picture on a 100*100*10 model). Maybe using a dds texture...? I'll try this Selden.

[MindToAsk]

Carina Nebula ready for download on my improvised web site
http://www.MindToAsk.go.ro

[danielj]

It showed "server not found"

Carina Nebula ready for download on my improvised web site
http://www.MindToAsk.go.ro