Here's an After Dark module (entered in the 1992 After Dark Module Contest) which creates pretty good simulations of emmission nebulæ. This looks BEST on a monitor capable of Millions or Thousands of colors, but 8-bit monitors look okay, too. Monitors in 1-bit mode will only display Exploding Antimatter Nebulæ.
This is a SLOW screen saver, because the algorithm take a while to build up the image, so be patient! I find that, when I'm trying to concentrate on something else in my office, it's speed makes it much less distracting than most modules. The images will take about five to ten minutes to look their best. After 30 minutes of (very slowly) wooshing colors around, the screen will blank and another one will start.
Use the controls in the After Dark control panel to change the look of your nebulæ:
Color Presets
------------
The Color Presets select which colors will be used in the image. Try The different ones to get an idea of what they look like.
Scale
-----
The Scale slider controls the "detail" of the generated image. "Small" detail gives a regular, bumpy appearance, where "Large" creates a cloudy, amorphous image. Setting the slider all the way to the left selects "Random", which creates areas of both sharp detail and cloudy wooshyness.
Stars
-----
Controls how many stars are drawn. They build up fast!
Fancy Stars
----------
If Fancy Stars is checked, the brightest stars will get refraction lines similar to those seen in large-telescope time lapse photos.
If you like Nebulæ, please send us a cool postcard of any type...and ENJOY!!!
