Painting by PSI Cofounder & Senior Scientist Emeritus William Hartmann uses acrylic paint & integrates Tucson soil to create gravel-like texture on the surface. As Siding Spring Comet passed by Mars on 10/19/14, it broke up in the atmosphere, creating a luminescent shower in the pre-dawn hours.

The Earth's magnetic field keeps us safe, but such storms can trigger disturbances in our electronic infrastructure and produce colorful aurora.

“I’ve done research on planetary topics with both of them for more than 20 years. That year, they finally got jobs at the University of Tennessee, and Molly was granted tenure, so I wanted to make something to celebrate those big life events.”

The bright star near the center of the frame, a little above the horizon is the star Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. Above Sirius and slightly to the left, is a red nebula. That is the trail of a very bright meteor!

This scene is all natural light. The light on the land is that from the night sky: light from stars, blue twilight, the Zodiacal light, the Milky Way galaxy, and airglow: light from molecules in Earth's upper atmosphere excited by solar ultraviolet light during the day and from cosmic rays.