In article <39a77a45@news.povray.org>, "GrimDude" 
<vos### [at] yahoocom> wrote:

> Examine the approach distance for this probe. :)  At such a distance 
> I would think Earth was not very complex, either.

I found some other images on the www.nasa.gov web site which showed a 
lot more variation. Actually, they looked a lot like Jupiter, I had to 
double-check to make sure I was looking at Saturn. :-)
They may have been false-color and enhanced, though...


> Yet, both of these planets are huge. Jupiter, it has been postulated, 
> is composed of ammonium gases and such. Perhaps, under those dense 
> cloud layers and perpetual storms, there is a sea of petroleum.

Actually, I don't think either Jupiter or Saturn has liquid hydrocarbons 
at the core...I remember it as semi-liquid hydrogen surrounding a layer 
of metallic hydrogen.(yes, hydrogen can be metallic under some 
conditions...)


> Contemplate; what form would life take there? Now, render that! :)

Probably would have to use the blob object or some isosurface... :-)


> What I am trying to get at, is that a working texture should be 
> functional even upon (near) full immersion. You can't 'get involved' 
> with an image_map. It's two dimensional. :)

I have an idea for a good image: a gas giant probe which floats in the 
atmosphere, above the storms.


> I have a book NASA published on images they've obtained over the years.
> Fascinating stuff, it includes all the planets (most of their moons), 
> and speculation on Pluto (binary, or singular snowball?). Come to 
> think of it, I haven't seen that book in a while! :(

Sounds pretty old...Pluto is known to have a nitrogen-methane atmosphere 
and a moon half it's size(Charon).

-- 
Christopher James Huff
Personal: chr### [at] maccom, http://homepage.mac.com/chrishuff/
TAG: chr### [at] tagpovrayorg, http://tag.povray.org/

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