Real Light, Not Decoration
Every color you saw in the portal above, every pulse, every point of light, traces back to a measurement or a physical model. Luminomorphism does not simulate beauty — it renders reality closely enough that beauty shows up on its own.
Measurements, coordinates and structures retrieved from external scientific sources.
Lighting, orbit, scattering and material response derived from documented models.
Composition and transitions that organize the scientific signal without claiming measurement.
Procedural continuity used only when a remote source cannot be reached.
Data, not decoration
Event markers, aurora ovals, and wildfire hotspots come from live feeds — NASA EONET, USGS, NOAA, FIRMS, GDACS — not from randomized noise dressed up as signal.
Physics, not shortcuts
Solar position, lunar phase and libration, ISS orbit, atmospheric scattering — each is computed from real ephemerides and physical models, not keyframed by hand.
Science-art, not simulation theater
When something can't be grounded in data or physics, it stays out of the core render, or it is explicitly labeled as an artistic interpretation.
A Living Atlas Across Scales
Living Earth and Living Protein are the first live nodes in an extensible network. The V4 roadmap maps the next research and development tracks without presenting them as launched observatories.
Each module has one registry record. Scope, maturity, representation and route are explicit; a missing route remains visibly non-live.
Data Provenance Topology
Follow each live dependency from scientific provider, through normalization or physical computation, to the visual phenomenon it controls. Future observatory records declare their scope in the registry but never impersonate a live feed before an adapter exists.
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Built From First Principles
No off-the-shelf globe plugin, no stock shader pack. The rendering pipeline is written to serve the "real light" principle directly. Tap a row to see the actual formula behind it.
Custom WebGL & Three.js pipeline
Scene, renderer, camera, and controls built module-by-module, composited through EffectComposer with UnrealBloomPass, SMAA, and an output pass.
RenderPass → UnrealBloomPass(strength, radius, threshold) → SMAAPass → OutputPassPhysically styled atmosphere & ocean Fresnel
Dot and physical atmosphere modes, Fresnel-driven limb glow, and Mie-style scattering tuned for cinematic clarity.
// Schlick's approximation — oceans turn mirror-like at grazing angles
F(θ) = F₀ + (1 − F₀)(1 − cosθ)⁵ where F₀ ≈ 0.02 for waterReal ephemerides, not keyframes
Day/night terminator, Moon phase and libration, and ISS position all come from calculated astronomical and orbital data — including atmospheric refraction at the horizon.
// Standard horizon refraction, applied to every terminator calculation
sunDot' = dot(surfaceNormal, sunDirection) + 0.0099 // ≈ +0.567° at the horizonCinematic post & export
Bloom, SMAA, film grain, and vignette carried through into PNG stills and 9:16 reel exports, with a Vertical Director and Data Rhythm Camera.
// Subsurface scattering on ice/snow — light "wraps" past the terminator
sss = clamp((sunDot + 0.3) / 1.3, 0, 1) // Jensen 2001, simplifiedShared observatory contract
Every current and future module starts with declared scope, source state, representation boundary, fallback behavior and public maturity. A visual only becomes live when its evidence path exists.
module = { family, scale, status, sources, representations, route, fallback }
live = route && sourceAdapter && declaredEvidenceBoundaryPlatform Trajectory
V4 separates delivery maturity from scientific certainty. A module becomes live only when it has a public route, a real data or model path, and a declared representation boundary.
Progress measures shipped platform integration only, never an idea, research note, or scientific claim. Research and planned cards remain non-enterable until a real data path and evidence boundary are in place.