I want to build more functionality into this set of tutorials. I want to allow a user to do minimal image editing and combination to create RGB images from science data right in the browser. I found this great website -- basically photoshop in the browser -- which is completely open source and has an API that I think could be adapted for use in my project. UPDATE: it works !
The proof of concept start for the longer Cas A supernova story... Allow the user to have interactive control over the core collapse of a star - click to burn heavier elements until you create a solid iron core. Then watch as the star explodes! EDIT: It turns out something like this already exists in Flash form. UPDATE: So...this project continues to evolve. It's becoming more of an interactive story than a "simulator" and I'm good with that. I found this awesome tutorial showing how you can build pseudo-3D
The layout: I picture this being visual storytelling where as you scroll to read the text, different elements of the storycome into view and animate. Sometimes these stories have a video playing in the background, and that's how I see this starting if I can find or create a good animation of a supernova explosion. The overall idea: follow an X-ray photon from it's creation in a supernova explosion as it travels through space and reaches Chandra's detectors. From there, learn how astronomers create color ima