I've been tinkering with Celestia this morning (it's a free space simulation program for Linux, with a decent Windows port to it), and I discovered that I can do a whole lot with it... I can record movies with it as well as take some nice still renders. I took these just for the heck of it in 1600x1400 resolution @ 32bpp and 120 pixels per inch (reduced to fit the forum better... :) I was wondering - since I got the whole solar system in here, would folks be interested in having me make up a whole bunch of sci-fi or space backgrounds?

a secdond image, taken from orbit over Io

'twould be nice to know what size the final images should be as well - the original size, 1400x1050, 1024x768, 800x600... ?x? /P

Ooooh Yes... I've been having problems finding shots with suitable resolution for panoramic shots... My ideal would be something I could apply to a cylinder as a texture for a 180+ pan.. the method works well, but so far the resolution suffers from lack of sufficiently high res pics on the cylinder. I'd also like to know more about this Celestia, though I don't know squat about Linux. Are aspects of say 2800 x 1050 possible. Not that it matters, I can always cut crop and arrange in a paint program if I have good shots to start with.

Attached Link: http://www.shatters.net/celestia/

You can get a Windows copy of Celestia at the link - I believe that it'll do resolutions (image cap and motion cap)of pretty astounding sizes.

I'd love to see an Earth with the Moon in the foreground, like the Jupiter pic.

Sure - though you'll have to manipulate the crap out of it to get a great shot. See, everything is to scale... literally. This image'll show you the Earth in the background w/ no post-work or manipulation - you can barely see the Earth from this distance, and the moon gets kinda blurry when you crawl up on it this close to capture both in one shot. The good news is, you can take snapshots of each @ high rez w/ no stars, apply a mask, then plop them together into a shot if you want to change the proportions.

Humm...seems too small. Earth has an 8000 mile diameter vs. the Moon's 2000, so a full Earth should be four times wider than the full Moon is in a sky. Still, nice to see more realistic sizes and distances. I could never get across to folks that going to Mars is NOT like going to the Moon, just somewhat further. I finally started talking light seconds vs. light minutes and did better.

Oh yeah, this program rocks. I installed it a while back, and love it. Great for mattes!

Attached Link: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html

Thanks Phoul for the link. This is the archive list from the site mentioned by bloodsong. Be sure to click the pics to get higher resolution ones; I've seen and DL much of the wonderful stuff, but some of these are much better resolutions than you find a the usual NASA sites, etc. Loved the header for one "Americans defeat Russians in first space Quiddich match" (April 1, 2000 pic of the day).

I got Celestia today too... it is AMAZING!!! -Lee