Akatsuki came back (it just couldn't stay away)

In 2010 the Akatsuki spacecraft launched with the intent of entering the orbit of Venus. It failed, pulling a 'Darth Vader', and spun off into space.

After a staggering recovery manoeuvre over a five year period and several orbits of the sun, the Japanese team managed a second attempt and Akatsuki is now safely orbiting at approximately 10,000 miles above Venus ready to begin its mission.



Well played JAXA! We're just taking this solar system conquering in our stride.

Morning Star and I of the Storm

So here's a couple of more planet illustrations following on from last years Mars picture. Although never intentional the opposing temperaments of the images worked out quite well with Venus being so calm and serene and Jupiter being a far more aggressive piece.

I wanted to convey Jupiter's vast scale in comparison to our other local worlds so rather than featuring the planet as a whole I opted to treat the infamous 'red eye' as the focus of the picture, and just to put it in perspective, you could fit earth into that cyclone. Twice. Deal with it.