Physically-based visual simulation of comets in virtual environments modeling the solar system

Visual simulation of various natural phenomena is one of the most important research fields in computer graphics. Simulations with physical correctness are useful to improve computer graphics images with more realistic rendering results. In addition, such simulations let people understand phenomena exactly and easily, and therefore play an important role in educational fields. In this article we present a simulation system for comet behavior in virtual environments such as a model of Solar System with moving comets. The purpose of our system is to visualize results of the simulation of whole phenomena of comets, including the evaporation process, the process of the coma generation, and dynamically changing tails influenced by the surrounding environment.