This stereoscopic collaboration with IMAX Space Films and Disney showed first-of-its-kind photography of the Earth from astronauts on the International Space Station. To contextualize the story of our planet, my team at the NCSA created two computer graphics sequences including this flight to the exoplanet Kepler-186F featured briefly in the film’s trailer:

 

The sequence starts departing the Earth, seamlessly registering camera and stars in the recorded videography with our CG environment, and arrives at the exoplanetary system. The visualization demonstrates how scientists look for exoplanets by observing the dimming of distant stars. This planetary system featured all of the other planets the Kepler telescope discovered, a thin accretion disk, and an intentionally subtle texture on the close planet to suggest the possibility of water, greenery, and life.