3D images of the Sun

Engineers at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth have produced the very first 3D images of the Sun using data from the NASA STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) mission which was successfully launched in October 2006.

A team of engineers at See3D, a University spinout company that provides virtual reality services to industry and academia, has developed software that makes it possible to view images from STEREO in real time – within 30 seconds of receiving the data from the space craft.

This breakthrough means that University scientists are ahead of NASA in being able to view these images in full 3D.

The images were shown for the first time on Monday 23 April at the University’s Institute of Mathematical and Physical Sciences. They were shown in a virtual reality theatre equipped with a Fakespace Power Wall display.

See3D has also produced an anaglyph version that makes it possible to view the images through red and green lensed glasses, as used in cinemas to view films such as Jaws 3.
 
Dr Andy Breen is a leading member of the solar System Physics Research Group at Aberystwyth Institute of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, and a co-investigator on the mission’s SECCHI instrument (Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation).