February 2023 Challenge: PanOPTiCA 477315 alpha/beta

[Simkin]

I think this last version is better

[Diamond]

I'm with Simkin, the last version looks better; seems to tie things together a little more. Also, I'm rather worried that I can see an Object 1 and Object 3, but no Object 2... Hopefully it's not tracking our intrepid space travelers.

[jshoer]

Thanks! And, yes, I thought I would try implying that there are multiple objects out there...

Here, I'm leaning into it some more.

### Latest WIP ###

[Naima]

I think a whiteish color fits more with a nasapunk theme , anyway looks great.

[jshoer]

Thankfully, our long-range spectra revealed oxygen atmospheres on not one, but two planets in this system, B and C. Obviously, this is great because we'll have air to breathe, but it also indicated the presence of vegetation. Indeed, as we approached, a robust vegetation signature appeared on C. There's some on B, along with liquid water, but it looks for the most part like a desert world. The outer worlds have a good number of icy moons and plenty of atmospheric water vapor, which we can use for fuel.

We still haven't managed to get good data off of the alien objects. Investigations will continue. I don't envy the Captain in her decision whether to establish a settlement first, or visit the transmitter array first...

### Latest WIP ###


Today I detailed the ship with lights and hull discoloration/space weathering. I was looking for something else to add information content, so I came up with the idea of showing observed spectra for each world...that's a 400-700 nm spectrum, otherwise known as the visible spectrum, with overlaid reflection spectra of dirt/water/snow/vegetation and overlaid emission spectra for molecular oxygen/water vapor/a couple other elements. Unfortunately 400-700 nm is not great for distinguishing the vegetation from dirt from water; near-to-mid infrared shows a lot more obvious spectral features. But for a visual map I decided to stick to the visible spectrum. I toyed with the idea of stretching the actual range I showed (like red = 1200 nm), but I would have had to come up with some kind of indication of that.

Anyway, you can tell which planets have oxygen now!

Now I'm thinking...what else does this need? Or What's not working?

[jshoer]

Oh, oh! No sooner do I post and take a look at all the thumbs than I get another idea. What do you think of this -- adding some flares behind the stars and raising the opacity of the dust disks?

### Latest WIP ###

[Greason Wolfe]

I dunno. Think it is pretty solid just as it is. Additional flourishes might be a little distracting, but maybe not if they are subtle.

[Diamond]

I like the modified (2nd) version.

[jshoer]

Thanks for the feedback.

Tweaking the layer mask on the dust disks to make them a little more dramatic...what else, what else...it would be cool to make this a contender in the challenge but I'm running out of ideas to punch it up.

### Latest WIP ###

[jshoer]

Not sure if I'll get a chance to do any more -- but I'm proud of what I've done so far!

### Latest WIP ###