SCREENSHOTS
EYE ADAPTATION MODELING
SUNRISE
A sequence of pictures over a 2 hour period at sunrise.
A screenshot of the sky towards the north, at 3:30 in the morning. The stars can still clearly be seen, although the sky has just started to lighten in anticipation of the day to come.
At 4:20 the moon rises above the horizon, and the sky in that direction becomes noticeably lighter. The stars can still be seen very clearly. Note that the phase of the moon is correct for its position in the sky.
At 5:30, the signs of dawn is very clear. By now the eyes have adapted to a point where only the brightest stars are visible. Since we know the brightness of each star, as well as the adaptation state of the eyes, the stars disappear automatically as it gets brighter, and the eyes adapt.
By 6:00 the sun is about to rise, and no stars are visible any more.
For those people who are wondering how far I went, Venus should have been visible still at this time, and in this scene. Currently none of the planets are implemented. Of all of them, Venus is probably the only one that is necessary for anything other than a virtual planetarium program.