Image credits

Nov 10, 2026 · 2 min read

Planet and Moon textures by Solar System Scope, licensed under CC BY 4.0. The textures are adapted for this interactive atlas through cropping, spherical presentation, shading, and animation. The site’s CC BY-NC-ND license does not replace the separate license for these third-party textures.

Most satellite views in the research atlas are AI-generated artistic impressions informed by the general appearance of spacecraft imagery, not photographs or scientific surface maps. Features, lighting, and unobserved regions may be invented. Uranus and Pluto are also AI illustrations. Enceladus is a separate NASA/JPL-Caltech artist’s rendering based on Cassini data. Nereid’s surface features are unknown: the Voyager 2 image is low resolution and does not resolve its surface. The links below provide observational context, rather than source textures for the AI images.

  • Phobos: PIA10368 — NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona; observational reference.

  • Deimos: PIA11826 — NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona; observational reference.

  • Io: PIA00583 — NASA/JPL/University of Arizona; observational reference.

  • Europa: PIA01295 — NASA/JPL/University of Arizona; natural-color observational reference.

  • Ganymede: PIA00716 — NASA/JPL; observational reference.

  • Callisto: PIA03456 — NASA/JPL/DLR; observational reference.

  • Titan: PIA06230 — NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute; observational reference.

  • Enceladus: PIA23175 — NASA/JPL-Caltech. Artist’s rendering based on a Cassini-derived surface map, with an illustrated plume.

  • Rhea: PIA07763 — NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute; observational reference.

  • Dione: PIA07746 — NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute; observational reference.

  • Tethys: PIA19638 — NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute; enhanced-color Cassini mosaic, observational reference.

  • Mimas: PIA12574 — NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute; observational reference.

  • Triton: PIA00317 — NASA/JPL/USGS; Voyager 2 mosaic, observational reference.

  • Nereid: AI-generated artist’s impression; no surface features are observationally established. For comparison, Voyager 2’s low-resolution view (PIA00054) is credited to NASA/JPL.

  • Uranus: Voyager 2 views — NASA/JPL; observational reference.

  • Pluto: New Horizons natural-color view — NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI; observational reference.