The Moon is a spectacular, if not all too familiar landmark of our night sky. For artist and author Ron Miller, it’s also inspiration for some compelling science art.
The Minnesota-based Miller created several beautiful pictures of the night skyline, replacing the Moon with one of the planets cohabiting our solar system with Earth. Miller does the calculations to keep the distance from Earth to the satellite’s surface constant (238,857 miles), while filling the sky with the appropriate amount of planetary mass. He speculates, too, on what that new neighbor might do to our nocturnal experience, from brightening the night or bathing us with deadly radiation. Saturn is the most dazzling, with rings stretching across the horizon.
h/t demilked