Comments on: Gorgeous planet art

By: Nigel Depledge

Nigel Depledge — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 02:00:29 +0000

MTU (23) said:

They should include Pluto, Eris, Makemake and the other ice dwarf type planets. A dwarf planet is no less a planet than a dwarf person is a person.

Here you go again.

And you still haven’t made a convincing argument.

By: Friday’s Reading List » PROSPECT Blog

Friday’s Reading List » PROSPECT Blog — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 07:21:31 +0000

[...] Gorgeous planet art. [...]

By: Arik Rice

Arik Rice — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 17:17:31 +0000

It’s funny. The “family portrait” really does look like mom, dad, and the kids to me.

Neptune and Uranus are teenagers, while Earth and Venus are elementary school kids, with Mars and Mercury toddlers, and the newborn Moon.

On a related note, I’ve thought up a neat idea: high-res planet Christmas tree ornaments. Someone with more art skllz than me should make them.

By: Silent Bob

Silent Bob — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 01:02:25 +0000

@ 23 Messier Tidy Upper

They should include Pluto, Eris, Makemake and the other [...] dwarf [...] planets.

Eh? But they are included!

Oh. No, sorry. After wiping the dust off my monitor they’re gone.

By: Jules Stoop

Jules Stoop — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 17:56:23 +0000

With some tricks and metafores our brains can perfectly comprehend the scale of the universe. Use the size of a human being as the scale. Compare it to an ant, a mountain, or compare a household to a stadium full of people, to a city built from stadiums – filled with people. How big is the moon compared to the earth? If you were as big as the earth, the moon would be no bigger than your cat or rabbit. How big is Jupiter compared to the earth? If you were as big as the earth, Jupiter would be the size of a whale etc.. In that way – in my humble experience – we can develop a true sense of scale and – for instance – really develop a feeling for the difference between a million and a billion when we talk about economics or politics.

By: TechyDad

TechyDad — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 17:24:52 +0000

@James,

I once showed my son (then 6, I believe) a website that showed objects scaling from the Earth to Jupiter and the Sun and so on. (There are some stars that make our Sun look like an ant.) He was amazed but I don’t think his brain truly comprehended the magnitude of the size difference. Then again, I don’t think people’s brains really can comprehend it fully. We can approximate it in our minds and look at the numbers, but the sheer size of some of these celestial objects is amazing.

Not what I showed my son, but I did a quick search and turned this up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEheh1BH34Q&feature=related

By: Jules Stoop

Jules Stoop — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:48:38 +0000

I made this one several years ago, using pictures from several sources: http://www.flickr.com/photos/julesstoop/316661006/sizes/o/in/photostream/

I however really like the way he turns the planets into tangible objects the size of pieces on a table. I have to agree though with some of the other people whom responded that our moon seems too small and Saturn and Jupiter are to close too perfect spheres, whilst in reality they are rather oblate.

By: James

James — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:05:54 +0000

What I find even more mind blowing is that as big as the planets seem they make up only about .2 % of the mass of the Sun. Basically if you want to include the sun in that family picture just colore the background orange. The universe rapidly outscales our ability to really comprehend it.

By: stjobe

stjobe — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 14:06:44 +0000

Is it just me, or does Jupiter have a big smiley face in that family portrait?

Also, either my estimates of Jupiter/Saturn or Neptune/Uranus sizes were waaay off… I had the four of them pegged as roughly the same size in my mind…

By: Jabjabs

Jabjabs — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:56:07 +0000

Checking over his work on his website it turns out that half my desktop backgrounds are from David

By: Thameron

Thameron — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:56:05 +0000

So exactly when did Venus, Mars and Mercury come between the Earth and Moon? Someone should notify Velikovsky!

By: Aubri

Aubri — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:48:32 +0000

Family Portrait — new desktop wallpaper!

By: Messier Tidy Upper

Messier Tidy Upper — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:06:21 +0000

@ ^ QuietDesperation : Ugliness like beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.

By: QuietDesperation

QuietDesperation — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 05:33:42 +0000

things in the universe are not allways as they look form Earth.

._.

Wow, so Mercury is not a slave to fashion. It is merely ugly.

I probably should have put a smiley up there.

By: Messier Tidy Upper

Messier Tidy Upper — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 03:55:56 +0000

Those are neat artworks – vibrant and vivid would be my description of them rather than “garish” but I guess art is always going to be a subjective thing. I like ‘em.

@4. Nick :“Still, I see Pluto gets no love…”

It does from me.

They should include Pluto, Eris, Makemake and the other ice dwarf type planets. A dwarf planet is no less a planet than a dwarf person is a person.

By: The Odd Family | Rearranging Prejudices

The Odd Family | Rearranging Prejudices — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 00:10:00 +0000

[...] Speaking of changing your perspective – can you even spot Pluto? – what a weird family of planets and dwarf planets our solar system has? [...]

By: andy

andy — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 22:04:22 +0000

Count me in with those who feel these are way too saturated and contrasty. I’ve seen better examples of this kind of thing which weren’t nearly so garish.

By: Andy

Andy — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 21:17:37 +0000

“… I’ve filed David’s name away if I never need it for something like this.”

I think you meant ever instead of never, surprised no one has caught it yet.

By: Srahhh

Srahhh — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 19:58:19 +0000

I lovelovelove how he placed them on planes, especially Saturn and the way it’s tilted as if it’s resting against the floor. Where was this stuff in my science books in high school and college?!

Maybe I’ve found a new calling for my graphic design skills after all…

Tip o’ the electron to you as well, Mr. Plait

By: Ken B

Ken B — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 19:50:46 +0000

Cindy:

However with two little kids at home I could just imagine hearing “Uh oh, you just broke Saturn!”

Which sounds a lot better than “Uh oh, you just broke Uranus!”

By: Alberto Cuadra

Alberto Cuadra — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 19:34:20 +0000

Very cool teratment but hardly original: http://www.acuadra.com/ACUADRA/Graphics.html#28

By: Arthur Maruyama

Arthur Maruyama — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:27:30 +0000

Oops! In my post above make that “the Moon’s diameter should be a bit more than TWO-thirds of the Mercurian diameter.”

By: Charles

Charles — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:22:12 +0000

Agree with Stuart at #3 – the colors are over-saturated and the contrast is a bit much. I’m not sure what the intention was, it’s less educational (because it’s less accurate), and I don’t think it looks better aesthetically, either (the artist clearly disagrees, as the supersaturated-crushed-blacks look is visible throughout his portfolio).

That said, I also agree that the sense of volume and relative scale is very effective, and it would be nice to have these as actual physical objects – maybe made out of some kind of plexiglass or something. In the correct colors.

By: Arthur Maruyama

Arthur Maruyama — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:21:58 +0000

I think the illustrations by David Fuhrer are wonderful, BUT isn’t the Moon a bit too small in the top image? I’ve downloaded that image and cut-n-pasted Mars, Mercury and the Moon on top of the Earth. While the first two are close enough to actual relative sizes–Mars a bit more than half Earth’s diameter and Mercury’s diameter a bit more than a third that of the Earth–the Moon’s diameter is about half that of Mercury and about a sixth the diameter of the Earth when the Moon’s diameter should be a bit more than a third of the Mercurian diameter and a bit more than a quarter that of Earth.

There is a similar problem for the Moon in the family portrait as well. While in that image Uranus seems to be smaller than Neptune, it appears that this can be excused by Uranus being behind both Saturn and Jupiter (judging from the shadows).

Just for completeness, the diameters in miles and sizes relative to Earth of the Solar System planets and the Moon in increasing sizes:
2158 0.273 Moon
3032 0.383 Mercury
4220 0.532 Mars
7520 0.950 Venus
7916 1.000 Earth
30775 3.87 Neptune
31763 3.98 Uranus
74898 9.14 Saturn
86881 10.97 Jupiter

By: J Marton

J Marton — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:19:19 +0000

Kill this in moderation, please

Phil, if you decide you want a sculpture like that in acrylic, I know a guy.