Exo: An Exoplanet Visualization

Final Project Links

Link to Exo/Source Code
(Source code viewable using browser developer tools)

Technical Write-Up

Link to data used

Link to data used in gui/csv form

User Guide

Loading and Earth

Screen will be black, and legend title will show "Loading..." while data is loading.

Note that a 3D Earth model is at the center of the visualization. This earth is rotated so that the exoplanet positions are true on the March equinox.

Controls

Click on point to get exoplanet info and highlight point.
Rotate camera using left mouse button.
Zoom in/out using scroll wheel or middle mouse button + move mouse.
Pan camera using Shift key + dragging left mouse button.

GUI Controls

Auto Rotate: Rotates camera automatically when checked.

Selection Mode: Activates Selection Mode (more info below).

Remove Highlights: Removes any highlights of any points.

Hide Tooltips(s): Hides any tooltips that are on-screen.

Reset Camera: Resets camera to initial position and orientation.

Render without Attenuation: Requires re-render of the scene. With attenuation, points have their own sizes. Without attenuation, no matter the camera position/angle, points will be sized the same.
Note: This is useful if you can't see colors too well from small-sized exoplanets.

Turn Off Legend: When checked, toggles the legend off, and vice versa.

Re-Render Scene: Re-renders the scene with new settings.

Press "Close Controls" to minimize the GUI.

Selection Mode

When selection mode is turned on:
You can highlight multiple exoplanets. Clicking on an exoplanet highlights it white. Highlighting 2 exoplanets compares the two exoplanets' data. Highlighting more than 2 shows the average of each of the exoplanets' data elements.

When off:
Only one exoplanet can be highlighted at a time. Clicking on an exoplanet highlights it (makes shape bigger) and shows its data in a tooltip.