Project Background

Project Background:

Before starting the development of the Orrery, we conducted interviews with three experts in the field of astronomy. The insights shared by Teacher Chen and Researcher Lin regarding educational aspects provided significant inspiration for the direction of this project.

Summary of Teacher Chen Xiaohui's Interview

Importance of Astronomy Education:
Teacher Chen noted that basic concepts like lunar phases and seasons, though not directly related to daily life, help students understand Earth’s relationship with the universe.
Evaluation of Teaching Effectiveness:
She evaluates teaching mainly through tests and Q&A, with immediate feedback being the most effective.
Planetarium in Teaching:
3D models, such as those demonstrating Kepler's laws, help students grasp abstract concepts, especially planetary motion.
Current Tools:
Teacher Chen often uses videos and interactive quizzes, which she finds enhance the learning experience.

Summary of Teacher Lin Qifeng's Interview

Curriculum Limitations:
Current teaching is constrained by the curriculum, with tools mainly used for specific topics like Kepler’s laws. 3D visualization helps explain abstract concepts beter.
Digital Teaching Potential:
Modern tools like electronic whiteboards could integrate a 3D solar system model, making lessons more interactive and allowing easy switching between modes for different topics.
Integration with U.S. Curriculum:
Lin suggests using the U.S. curriculum to develop modules for different age groups and designing real-time scenarios to support teaching.

The Orrery

Realistic 3D Visual Rendering

The orrery highlights the significance and distribution of Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) in the solar system. Apart from the Sun and the eight planets, the scene showcases 20 representative NEOs, providing a clear and focused view of their locations and movements.

High-Resolution Textures: Each planet is rendered using high-resolution surface images from to enhance visual fidelity.
Optimized Lighting and Shadows: The system employs optimized lighting and shadow rendering techniques to create a realistic and immersive experience.
Accurate Orbits, Scaled Radii: The actual the space-time nearly accurate positions. To emphasize planetary surfaces, the planets are displayed with exaggerated radii, while their orbits remain true to scale.
Saturn’s Rings: The iconic rings of Saturn have been carefully modeled to provide additional visual detail and realism.

Dynamic and Immersive Interaction

Our orrery offers a dynamic, immersive way to explore celestial motions, using both mouse and keyboard controls for seamless interaction.

Spatial and Graphic Controls

Users car navigate the 3D space with mouse or keyboard effortlessly:

Rotate: Left-click and drag to rotate the view.
Pan: Right-click and drag to move the scene.
Zoom: Use the scroll wheel to zoom in and out.
In addition, a range of keyboard shortcuts enhances navigation. For instance,
- press 'T' to toggle orbital traces,
- press 'L' to toggle object labels,
- press 'W/S/A/D' to move camera in space, yielding an First-Person Perspective,
- etc.

Time Controls

At the bottom of the interface, a time control panel offer full command over the simulation's timeline:

Play/Pause: Start or pause the simulation with a single click.
Forward/Backward Play: Shift through time in both directions.
Speed Adjustment: Adjust the flow of time using a slider to speed up or slow down the simulation.
Jump to Specific Dates: Instantly jump to the current date or the J2000.0 epoch (an important referential pont in ephimerderis) with dedicated buttons.

The Modules

Education Module

Designed for teaching profound astronomical concepts, this module enables real-time, interactive 3D visualizations. Teachers or presenters can easily explain abstract ideas like Kepler’s laws through dynamic visual demonstrations, making these concepts more accessible and understandable.

This module can enhance your understanding of complex scientific concepts, with a focus on Kepler's Laws. It allows users to visualize and simulate celestial mechanics in an engaging way. While interacting with the orrery, you will have access to comprehensive explanations of each topic, with real-time plotting for immediate visualization of key concepts. It also allowing developers to easily add new topics in the future, ensuring the continued expansion of the educational content.

Event Module

This module provides a time-sequenced list of NEOs' Close-Approach Events which pose potential threats to Earth. Users can view both past events and future predictions of hazardous close approaches. By clicking on an event, detailed information will be displayed, including specifics about the event and visualized data regarding the approach.

Module Purpose
Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) pose a threat to Earth, making regular monitoring essential for identifying collision risks and developing countermeasures to enhance planetary defense and reduce disaster risks. This module leverages NASA’s Close Approach Data (CAD) to provide users with a clear and intuitive understanding of key NEO approach data.
Data Source
The SBDB Close-Approach Data API, provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), offers detailed information on Near-Earth Objects (NEOs), including their approach time, distances, sizes, and relative speeds.
Features
1. Date Selection Scroll Bar
  A timeline is provided at the bottom of the page for users to select their desired date for inquiry. After selecting a date, the system retrieves data for all events on that day.
  In addition to scrolling left and right on the timeline, users can switch months using the buttons below.
  The date labels are color-coded based on the number of events on that day:
  1. number of events > 5 : red
  2. number of events ≤ 5 : yellow
  3. number of events = 0 : white
2. Event List of Selected Date
  The left side of the page displays a list of events for the selected date, including the name and time of each event. More information will appear on the right-hand side of the page after clicking on an event.
3. Event Detail Table
  The data for each event is presented in a table format, displaying all the relevant details.
4. Near Approach Distance Visualization
  The nominal approach distance of each event is visualized for better user understanding. It compares the event’s distance with the Earth-Moon distance, using lines for easy comparison. Additionally, a reference line representing 1,000,000 kilometers is included to aid comprehension with a commonly recognized unit.
User Instruction
Select a date > Choose an event > View event data
Parameter Description

Lab Module

The Lab Module serves as a virtual celestial laboratory! Users can create and adjust the parameters of an asteroid, such as its mass, position, and velocity. Once configured, the asteroid can be launched, and users can observe how its orbit is influenced by gravity, gaining a hands-on understanding of orbital mechanics and the solar system's dynamics.

Challenge Module (coming soon)

Utilizing AI and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) technology, this module generates quiz questions based on solar system knowledge. The questions are tied to specific celestial locations, and users are rewarded based on their answers (e.g., point accumulation). The data collected, such as user location, age, and gender, is analyzed to help NASA and other organizations understand the knowledge gaps in different demographics and inform science outreach strategies.

Tour Module (coming soon)

This module allows users to embark on a virtual tour of the solar system by selecting any celestial body as a viewing point. Users can observe the surface and surroundings of planets like Mars and Jupiter, or explore notable landmarks such as Valles Marineris on Mars or the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. The immersive experience offers a rich educational journey through space.

Github Link

smorrery-webapp

2024 NASA Space Apps Challenge

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