![](https://fivetwelvelab.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/saturn_01.jpg?w=1024)
I always been obsessed with space exploration and astronomy, and since I was a child I played with telescopes and optical instruments.
I was just trying to show to a friend what you can expect from a cheap telescope when looking at the planets. I quickly downloaded an image of Saturn and set up in Nuke a simple comp to get the scale right and the view from the ocular. Then I tried the same with an image of Jupiter… and another one… Obviously I went a bit too far and after a couple of days I ended up with a complete 3D solar system / telescope simulator in Nuke.
![](https://fivetwelvelab.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/tool.jpg?w=1024)
![](https://fivetwelvelab.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/screenshot-2022-10-01-at-19.42.54.png?w=960)
![](https://fivetwelvelab.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/screenshot-2022-10-01-at-19.44.55.png?w=960)
![](https://fivetwelvelab.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/screenshot-2022-10-01-at-19.46.18.png?w=960)
The tool is designed to mimic the view from earth of the planets through a telescope. You can play with the focal length, oculars and Barlow lenses. Tweaking other parameters it is able to render a view from a “probe” in Voyager style. This is Mars with a 2.000 mm focal length and a 2x Barlow lens.
![](https://fivetwelvelab.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/screenshot-2022-10-01-at-20.05.16.png?w=1024)
![](https://fivetwelvelab.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/jupiter_03.jpg?w=1024)
Clearly I had to be precise. Each planets has his own rotation, axis tilt and satellites. Please note the transit of Io in front of Jupiter and its shadow.
![](https://fivetwelvelab.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/jupiter.gif?w=1024)
![](https://fivetwelvelab.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/neptune.gif?w=1024)
The entire system has also the correct scale. Each unit in nuke equals 1.000 Km, and each frame of the animation 1 hour. A bit of patience with some expressions and everything moves automatically. And yes, I also added Pluto, I felt sorry and re-introduced it in my solar system.
![](https://fivetwelvelab.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/solar.gif?w=984)
![](https://fivetwelvelab.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/screenshot-2022-10-01-at-20.11.02.png?w=974)