Alternative moons, (please scroll down!)

[Mahnmut]

A Projekt I´ve had in mind for years, still a lot to do, but here is the concept:
Luna:

What if our moon was smaller?

Like Europa for example:

Or Triton:

Or even Pluto(with Charon, Nyx&Hydra):

Or bigger, like Io:

Callisto:

Mercury:

Titan

Ganymede:

Mars:

Venus:

or even another Terra:


Neptune would fill the sky.

I still can´t change colours in TG without my stupid graphics card crashing, therefore no adequate illumination. But the sizes are to scale. Most imagemaps are from the celestia motherlode , johnstonsarchive.net or one of its links. Thanks!
Most are altered by me.
Best Regards,
Jan

[inkydigit]

great comparisons!
I have often wondered about that too!

[TheBadger]

Cool idea. I could see something like this being used in a class room to help kids *see* the difference of things that are massive.

You do interesting stuff Jan. You should fix your laptop and get the full version of TG

[Mahnmut]

Thanks!
I am still looking for a way to represent the difference in the albedos correctly, allthough I fear that on most moons one wouldn´t be able to see details because they are so much brighter than our Luna.
I am trying to install a new graphics driver, but windows 7 wont let me. Besides, I got a real lot of work at the moment.
Best Regards as always,
J

[Marcos Silveira]

What annoys me the most is that a tiny moon like Titan has a thick earth-like atmosphere but the fucking Mars doesn't!!!

[ares2101]

What annoys me the most is that a tiny moon like Titan has a thick earth-like atmosphere but the fucking Mars doesn't!!!

Titan's really, really cold.  Let's it hold onto gases better.

[Mahnmut]

Hi Ro-nin,
I´m glad it is not some aspect of my work that annoys you most
I wouldn´t call Titan tiny, after all its diameter is 76% of that of Mars, as I hoped to show with my little collection here.
By the way, "earthlike" is also a very relative term here.
And Ares2101 is of course right, it´s easier to hold onto your stuff out there.
But to ease your pain:

As you see, I´d also like my Mars more "airy":
http://www.planetside.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=6217

Some more of my green Mars, scroll down a bit:
http://www.planetside.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=9306.msg98656#msg98656
Bet regards,
Jan

[Marcos Silveira]

Hi Ro-nin,
I´m glad it is not some aspect of my work that annoys you most

Sorry for the "off topic" comment but You made me daydream with your awesome and inspiring work!!

Wow!!! I love your terraformed Mars!!! It's beautiful!!!! Why don't we just throw Europa onto Mars?!? We'll get both water and gravity...

[Mahnmut]

Not to mention a bit of heat, you would definitely get that by throwing Europa onto Mars!
By the way, Europa is the home of my namesake Mahnmut and among the top candidates for life in the solar system, so I would recommend using another snowball.
Concerning the pros and cons of hard and soft terraforming I can really recommend the Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson, if you are into Mars, don´t miss these great books!
And If you aren´t, read them anyway, after reading you will be.
Oh, I really was glad that my work didn´t annoy you, no sarcasm.
Thanks,
Best regards,
Jan

[Marcos Silveira]

Concerning the pros and cons of hard and soft terraforming I can really recommend the Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson, if you are into Mars, don´t miss these great books!

Mars Trilogy?!? Well, I always wanted to read some book about the colonization of mars and terraforming. Let me ask You, isn't it outdated?!?! I mean, when exactly was it written?!!? I hate to read outdated books (for example, ancient books that talk about space travel but says nothing about cell phones or PCs, like those from Arthur Clark)!!

[Mahnmut]

Hi Ro-nin,
The Mars Trilogy (Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars) is from the early nineties, but I assure you, there isn´t any better future history on the colonisation of Mars.
I got about 1.2 meters of Mars-centered Sci-fi on my shelve, but there is nothing comparable.
I assume as a Terragenista you will appreciate a good landscape description, some of my friends found these boring. And it´s of course three fat books, about 2100 pages all in all. After that you will feel you know the place.
Best Regards,
Jan

[Matt]

Hi Ro-nin,
The Mars Trilogy (Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars) is from the early nineties, but I assure you, there isn´t any better future history on the colonisation of Mars.
I got about 1.2 meters of Mars-centered Sci-fi on my shelve, but there is nothing comparable.
I assume as a Terragenista you will appreciate a good landscape description, some of my friends found these boring. And it´s of course three fat books, about 2100 pages all in all. After that you will feel you know the place.
Best Regards,
Jan

I read these when I was a teenager obsessed with Mars. I never made it through Blue Mars, but Red Mars is definitely a must-read

I also read about Mahnmut in Dan Simmons's Ilium. Have you read the sequel?

Matt

[Marcos Silveira]

Hi Ro-nin,
I assume as a Terragenista you will appreciate a good landscape description, some of my friends found these boring. After that you will feel you know the place.
Best Regards,
Jan

Boring?!?! That should be the most exciting part!!! OK, buying it right now!!!

[Mahnmut]

Hi Matt,
yes I read "Olympos".
All the storylines actually do come together, who would have thougt that ?
Being a fan of Mars and the Iliad, Ilium was a must for me.
Still I like the Mars trilogy better, meanwhile I read nearly everything by Robinson (and a lot of Simmons also)
I just read Ilium when I needed a nickname.

Ro-nin, as a large part of Red Mars takes place on the journey there, the best landscape occurs in Green Mars. But in all the books it really shows that Robinson loves nature and is an outdoorsperson himself.

Maybe this should be moved to the general discussions Board?
Best Regards,
Jan