Stellar Galaxy

Description

This piece creates a procedurally generated galaxy visualization using shader programming. The scene features 20000 stars distributed in a galaxy pattern.

Features Added

1. Procedural Galaxy Distribution (src/model.glsl)

   • Generates spiral galaxy structure using trigonometric spiral equations with multiple arms
   • Calculates radial distance from galactic center with density falloff for realistic clustering
   • Assigns each star to one of several spiral arms/branches using modular arithmetic
   • Applies pseudo-random angular and radial offsets to each star for natural dispersion
   • Creates denser galactic bulge near center and sparser outer regions
   • Uses star index as seed for deterministic but varied positioning
   • Size variation for visual depth and star classification
   • All fields are fully customizable for unique rendering

2. Dynamic Star Rendering (src/galaxy.fs + main.cpp)

   • Renders 20000 star objects, can lower or increase for customizability
   • Implemented alpha blending with additive blend mode for realistic light accumulation and bloom-like glow effects
   • Applied Fresnel edge lighting to create luminous halos around star geometry, enhancing depth perception
   • Procedural brightness pulsation using time-based sine waves with per-star frequency variation
   • Smooth alpha falloff from center to edges for soft, diffuse star appearance

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/d7ff750d-de94-4b8a-b16a-efafe7e5be32

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/8dd5d569-9a87-4f6f-a674-440277310cad

Acknowledgements

Math Resources

• Three.js Journey by Bruno Simon - Spiral galaxy distribution equations adapted from Bruno Simon’s tutorials

Assets

• No external texture assets were used - all visuals are procedurally generated

External Libraries

• Eigen (included as submodule) for linear algebra operations
• libigl (included as submodule) for mesh utilities
• GLFW 3.3 for windowing
• OpenGL 4.1+ for rendering pipeline

All shader code was written specifically for this project, building upon the base assignment framework.