Providing photos and prints with a passion for excellence
             

The paintings shown here are all from David's new book 'Futures : 50 Years in Space, the Challenge of the Stars'. The originals are completely digital so no 'true' original exists as such, the canvas giclee editions are essentially the originals in this case. The giclee editions are printed on fine art canvas and only 10 of each will be produced. These paintings are also available as high quality prints limited to 75 in number.

Giclee editions : $425
Prints : $75

For more information on David please visit www.astroart.org

Books can be ordered from Pixibilities or from the link above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

URANUS

Close to the south pole of Miranda, ice-cliffs rise up to 5km from the valley floor at an angle of 45-50 degrees. This view may next be seen in the year 2029, as the Sun is shining on the pole of Uranus from below the horizon.

28" x 22"

PLUTO

The temperature on the surface of Pluto can fall as low as -238 C. One side of Pluto seems to be 30% brighter than the other, and a bright highlight on Pluto suggests it may have a smooth, reflective area, such as the icy lake shown in this painting.

26" x 18"

NEPTUNE

Geysers on Triton. Columns of gas rise almost vertically for several kilometers, then are sheared off be high-altitude winds into long streamers which travel horizontally for perhaps 150km. In the painting, one such ice-volcano is erupting from inside a valley while another is just beyond the horizon.

25" x 16"

MIMAS

Saturn from its moon Mimas, with its giant crater Herschel. By contrast, Mimas's southern polar region is quite smooth. On the opposite side of the moon from Hershcel are what seem to be fracture marks.

24" x 20"

 

IO

An eruption on Io. The glow of fresh lava illuminates the base of a plume of gas on the horizon, and a lava-filled crack radiates from its source, behind typical mesa-like hills. In the middle distance is a dark lava lake, while in the foreground a now-extinct eruption emits a few last gasps.

25" x 16"

 

ASTEROID ECLIPSE

The cratered and pitted surface of a small asteroid which has come within 100,000km (63,000) miles of Earth, which planet is seen eclipsing the Sun, its atmosphere forming a 'ring of fire' (the redness is caused by sunlight being refracted by the atmosphere, as at sunset). The Moon is on the right. While such a body might pass us by, there is every chance that Earth's gravity would draw it into a collision...

28" x 18"

TITAN

Beneath the clouds: the surface of Titan. The painting shows a baloon probe, or dirigible, a good way of exploring this fascinating world for months at a time. Saturn can dimly be seen, though this would be rare indeed. In the left foreground, dark organic material deposited at the top of a mountain is conducting heat and releasing gases, and a small geyser can be seen in the middle distance.

MARS EXPLORATION

Manned exploration of Mars. Here we see a Mars Rover equipped with grappling arms to allow the astronauts to gather larger samples than they could unaided. This vehicle can travel over a variety of terrains; seen here are a rock field, dunes and hills.

25" x 17"

SURFACE OF A COMET

The surface of this comet looks bright only because of the glare of sunlight and because we are seeing an area which has been disturbed by evaporation and the outgassing of volatiles, revealing ices. In the foreground of this scene are dark rocks perched on pinnacles of ice, which they have shielded from sunlight.

 

MILKY WAY

The Milky Way, our Galaxy, seen from the hypothetical planet of a 'stray star' orbiting it. Our own Sun, a normal, yellowish star, is not of course visible here, but its position in the Sagittarius Arm is marked, near the top center, by a white star. Above this is the Cygnus-Orion Arm; the outer arm, the Perseus Arm, is beyond the edge of this painting.

ORION NEBULA

A spectacular view of the Orion Nebula would be obtained from a planetary system a mere 40 light-years away. Often the colours ascribed to celestial objects in photographs seem to be quite arbitrary. The human eye is most sensitive to green wavelengths. This painting is a compromise between a photograph and what would actually be seen from such a well placed planetary system.

THE CANYONS OF MARS

Canyon on Mars. Tributaries to the main Valles Marineris canyon system, such as the Noctis Labyrinthus, may make spectacular viewing, especially when filled with dawn fog, as here, formed when water which during the night condensed and froze on east-facing slopes is vaporized by the rising Sun. Ice srystals in the high cirrus clouds form 'sun-dogs' around the early-morning Sun.

IAPETUS

It now seems the dark material on Iapetus is organic, originating either from another satellite or from below the surface. In this view the rings of Saturn are seen at a wide angle. Iapetus us the only moon from which this is possible.

ETA CARINAE

Hubble images of Eta Carinae show, in amazing detail, two 'balloons' of gas and dust expanding from the poles of the star and reddening its light, plus a thin equatorial disc, all traveling outward at 650km (400 miles) per second. In 100,000 years' time Eta Carinae will probably end its life as a supernova and then a neutron star. A suitably placed planet might show a scene like this, with the nebulae in perspective and the equatorial disc in clear view.

25" x 18"

ANTARES

The huge red star Antares is over 9,000 times more luminous than the Sun, but has a temperature of 'only' 3065°C (5,500°F), compared with our Sun's 5,565°C (10,050°F). Even so, a planet would need to be 20 billion km (12.5 billion miles) away in order to have an Earth-like atmosphere and liquid water. The nebula around Antares is hidden by the atmosphere and clouds.