Asteroids and Comets

104-Asteroid-Prospector
104-Asteroid-Prospector
Long, spindly legs level the prospector's craft in the irregular gravity field of a small asteroid ; acrylic on board, 1984
183-Giotto-Halley-Encounter

183-Giotto-Halley-Encounter

Halley Encounter - painted the night of the Giotto-Halley encounter, shows the peanut-shaped nucleus of Halley's comet

258-Earth-Crossing-Asteroid
258-Earth-Crossing-Asteroid
a small asteroid zooms past the moon enroute to earth - painting by Don Dixon
327-Gliese-710-Comets

327-Gliese-710-Comets

comets in our solar system's Oort Cloud are disturbed by the passing of a nearby dwarf star in the distant future - painting by Don Dixon

355 - Earth and Moon in Comet Tail

355 - Earth and Moon in Comet Tail

earth and moon are dwarfed by the tail of a passing comet - digital painting by Don Dixon, 1998

345-Greenland-Meteor
345-Greenland-Meteor
recreation of a meteor that may have exploded over Greenland - painting by Don Dixon for Scientific American
354-Stardust-comet-probe
354-Stardust-comet-probe
The Stardust Probe Approaches Comet Wilde 2 - Painting by Don Dixon
437-Asteroid-Collision

437-Asteroid-Collision

A large asteroid is struck by a smaller one. Since both bodies are porous, most of the energy is absorbed as heat, rather than dispersed with ejecta, thus explaining the internal melting of asteroids. Digital, for Scientific American. © 2005 by Don Dixon.

441-Deflecting-A-Comet

441-Deflecting-A-Comet

A high-powered laser in earth orbit blasts surface material from an approaching comet nucleus in an effort to deflect it. Pre-production art for NBC miniseries "Asteroid." Acrylic and goache, 1997. © 2005 by Don Dixon.

009-In-The-Shadow-Of-Icarus

009-In-The-Shadow-Of-Icarus

In the Shadow of Icarus; an early painting by Don Dixon showing a crewed spacecraft sheltering in the shadow of the sun-diving asteroid Icarus as a tethered instrument examines the nearby Sun; 24 x 36 inches, oil on canvas with watercolor paper applique´, 1972; copyright Don Dixon

346-Fire-over-ice-greenland-meteor-explosion
346-Fire-over-ice-greenland-meteor-explosion
a huge fireball exploding over the Greenland ice cap, cover November, 1998 Scientific American - painting by Don Dixon
344 - Meteorite impact in the Rub' al Khali
344 - Meteorite impact in the Rub' al Khali
Molten glass splashes out from a meteor impact in the Empty Quarter ( Rub' al Khali ) of the Saudi Arabian Desert - digital painting by Don Dixon for Scientific American, 2000
Mining an Asteroid

Mining an Asteroid

Operation Asteroid - An mile-long carbonaceous asteroid is maneuvered into orbit over the moon, where it will be mined for organics required to sustain a lunar base. An electromagnetic mass driver provides not only propulsion (by ejecting asteroidal rock at high velocity), but will be used to deliver mined material to the lunar surface where it can be collected by colonists. 18x24 inch acrylic and gouache on Masonite panel, 1980. copyright Don Dixon