Artists such as Tim Pyle and Robert Hurt create renderings of exoplanets and other things in the universe we may never be able to otherwise see. Sometimes, the reality of the data they're working with aligns with scenes from the "Star Wars" films, such as Pyle's rendering of the Kepler-16 binary star system that creates a double sunset like the one on Luke Skywalker's home world, Tatooine. <br /><br />Click through to see more of their work.
Artists such as Tim Pyle and Robert Hurt create renderings of exoplanets and other things in the universe we may never be able to otherwise see. Sometimes, the reality of the data they're working with aligns with scenes from the "Star Wars" films, such as Pyle's rendering of the Kepler-16 binary star system that creates a double sunset like the one on Luke Skywalker's home world, Tatooine.

Click through to see more of their work.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Their rendering of the TRAPPIST-1 star, an ultra-cool dwarf, shows the seven Earth-size planets that were discovered orbiting it. The design also shows where planets lie in the habitable zone around the planet. Ice around the outside of the image indicates it's too cold there for water to maintain liquid form, while steam close to the star shows its too hot.
Their rendering of the TRAPPIST-1 star, an ultra-cool dwarf, shows the seven Earth-size planets that were discovered orbiting it. The design also shows where planets lie in the habitable zone around the planet. Ice around the outside of the image indicates it's too cold there for water to maintain liquid form, while steam close to the star shows its too hot.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
"To me, planets around binary star systems will always be 'Tatooine' planets," Pyle said. This illustration was created to accompany a release revealing that mature planetary systems are more frequent around binary stars than single stars like our sun.
"To me, planets around binary star systems will always be 'Tatooine' planets," Pyle said. This illustration was created to accompany a release revealing that mature planetary systems are more frequent around binary stars than single stars like our sun.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Kamino is an ocean world in "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones." Kepler-22b is an exoplanet that could similarly be covered in a super ocean.
Kamino is an ocean world in "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones." Kepler-22b is an exoplanet that could similarly be covered in a super ocean.
NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech
Kepler-452b is an Earth-size planet that orbits a star similar to our sun. It's been compared with the planet Coruscant in the "Star Wars" films and has been called "Earth's older, bigger cousin."
Kepler-452b is an Earth-size planet that orbits a star similar to our sun. It's been compared with the planet Coruscant in the "Star Wars" films and has been called "Earth's older, bigger cousin."
NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech
Hurt was inspired by the volcanic world Mustafar from "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith" to create this illustration of the hot, rocky exoplanet called 55 Cancri e. It is his favorite illustration from the past year, a "lava-covered world with sheets of gas pouring off of it."
Hurt was inspired by the volcanic world Mustafar from "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith" to create this illustration of the hot, rocky exoplanet called 55 Cancri e. It is his favorite illustration from the past year, a "lava-covered world with sheets of gas pouring off of it."
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Believe it or not, this is not a depiction of Alderaan being obliterated by the Death Star in "Star Wars: A New Hope." This is Pyle's concept of a young star surrounded by a debris disk or gas and dust, the birthplace of new planets.
Believe it or not, this is not a depiction of Alderaan being obliterated by the Death Star in "Star Wars: A New Hope." This is Pyle's concept of a young star surrounded by a debris disk or gas and dust, the birthplace of new planets.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
When working on the concept for Kepler-186f, the first Earth-size planet in the habitable zone that could support liquid water on its surface, Pyle was careful to make it look less inviting than our own Earth, in case it was misconstrued as a friendly, habitable place. They made sure it was more muddy brown rather than green and blue.
When working on the concept for Kepler-186f, the first Earth-size planet in the habitable zone that could support liquid water on its surface, Pyle was careful to make it look less inviting than our own Earth, in case it was misconstrued as a friendly, habitable place. They made sure it was more muddy brown rather than green and blue.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
"Probably the most famous graphic I've done is a top-down view of what the Milky Way would look like if we could go outside our galaxy and look at it," Hurt said. "The irony is, we live inside it, you think we would know it better than anything, but it turns out that's not so true. It's like being dropped down in Times Square and being asked to draw a map of all of Manhattan."
"Probably the most famous graphic I've done is a top-down view of what the Milky Way would look like if we could go outside our galaxy and look at it," Hurt said. "The irony is, we live inside it, you think we would know it better than anything, but it turns out that's not so true. It's like being dropped down in Times Square and being asked to draw a map of all of Manhattan."
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Pyle enjoyed working on this concept because he hadn't seen any examples of it before. It's an example of a brown dwarf with a strong weather system. Instead of liquid rain, the storms most likely consist of molten iron, sand or salts.
Pyle enjoyed working on this concept because he hadn't seen any examples of it before. It's an example of a brown dwarf with a strong weather system. Instead of liquid rain, the storms most likely consist of molten iron, sand or salts.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Hurt's depiction of a supermassive black hole is another iconic image that has come to be closely associated with the term. It also depicts an outflowing jet of energetic particles, believed to be powered by the black hole's spin.
Hurt's depiction of a supermassive black hole is another iconic image that has come to be closely associated with the term. It also depicts an outflowing jet of energetic particles, believed to be powered by the black hole's spin.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
A fan of the show "Babylon 5," Pyle enjoyed working on this depiction of the Epsilon Eridani star system, where the space station is located on the show. It is also the closest known planetary system to our own.
A fan of the show "Babylon 5," Pyle enjoyed working on this depiction of the Epsilon Eridani star system, where the space station is located on the show. It is also the closest known planetary system to our own.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
"A star that's cool enough to have stormy planet-like clouds forming in its atmosphere," Pyle said. "I worked with an exoplanet theorist who helped refine the look of the cloud structure."
"A star that's cool enough to have stormy planet-like clouds forming in its atmosphere," Pyle said. "I worked with an exoplanet theorist who helped refine the look of the cloud structure."
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Hurt offers another look at a young star surrounded by a dusty protoplanetary disk that contains the raw material to form planets as the star system matures.
Hurt offers another look at a young star surrounded by a dusty protoplanetary disk that contains the raw material to form planets as the star system matures.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
What would a storm of comets around a star look like? Hurt's illustration of <a target="_blank" target="_blank">Eta Corvi</a> shows how comets are torn to shreds after colliding with a rocky body.
What would a storm of comets around a star look like? Hurt's illustration of Eta Corvi shows how comets are torn to shreds after colliding with a rocky body.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Up close with alien planets

Story highlights

Robert Hurt and Tim Pyle turn research and data into renderings for NASA

Their work resembles photographs of planets we may never see

CNN  — 

Robert Hurt and Tim Pyle have provided the world with stunningly photo-realistic glimpses at what gravitational waves, Earth-like exoplanets, rain storms of molten iron and even the Milky Way from above might look like if we could ever see them for ourselves. They also have the joy of illustrating when science fiction meets science fact, like planets orbiting two stars that harken back to twin suns setting on Tatooine in “Star Wars: A New Hope.”

They have been working together and turning study data into artist renderings for 12 years at the California Institute of Technology, the academic home of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Sometimes, they have only a little bit of lead time to produce the stunning images that accompany NASA’s news releases.

Without Hurt and Pyle, the images we associate with exoplanets would be a single pixel of light surrounded by the vast blackness of space.

Artist's conception of the binary system with three giant planets discovered, where one star hosts two planets and the other hosts the third. The system represents the smallest-separation binary in which both stars host planets that has ever been observed.
Artist's conception of the binary system with three giant planets discovered, where one star hosts two planets and the other hosts the third. The system represents the smallest-separation binary in which both stars host planets that has ever been observed.
Courtesy Robin Dienel

Related article Three giant exoplanets found orbiting twin stars

“I love the fact that I get to help shape the way people see some of these NASA releases,” Pyle said.

In some cases, this even aids the scientists and researchers.

“My initial focus was not just taking data sets and making pretty images but also doing artwork and illustrations that aren’t represented visually in actual data,” Hurt said. “In spectroscopy, you’re literally breaking light up that results in a squiggly line. Even someone with a Ph.D. in spectroscopy can’t glance at a spectrum and see the significance of what that means, so turning results into an image to help people see what the story is about is part of the challenge.”

Though creating this realistic-looking artwork comes with the risk of people thinking they are actual photographs, the bar has been raised by films from the “Star Wars” franchise that present sweeping flybys of planets or the realistic representation of an accretion disc around a black hole in “Interstellar.”

“If we put out a picture that’s clumsy and dull to consciously look hand-drawn just to prevent confusion, we risk losing attention to these discoveries,” Hurt said. “Let’s make it look as compelling as it is and engage the curiosity as much as we can.”

The artist and the astronomer

Hurt took the route of an astronomer in college, and Pyle pursued film production, but both are creative and shared a love of science fiction and art from a young age.

This artist's impression shows a view of the surface of the planet Proxima b orbiting the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Solar System. The double star Alpha Centauri AB also appears in the image to the upper-right of Proxima itself. Proxima b is a little more massive than the Earth and orbits in the habitable zone around Proxima Centauri, where the temperature is suitable for liquid water to exist on its surface.
This artist's impression shows a view of the surface of the planet Proxima b orbiting the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Solar System. The double star Alpha Centauri AB also appears in the image to the upper-right of Proxima itself. Proxima b is a little more massive than the Earth and orbits in the habitable zone around Proxima Centauri, where the temperature is suitable for liquid water to exist on its surface.
European Southern Observatory/M. Kornmesser

Related article Closest potentially habitable planet to our solar system found

“We sort of meet in the middle of the language of art,” Hurt said.

Before coming to NASA JPL, Pyle worked on such projects as the animated show “Invader Zim” for Nickelodeon.

Forgoing the traditional tenured professor track, Hurt wanted to be more involved in science projects as an astronomer. He got a reputation for creating photo-quality images based on the results of data sets or those he made for friends to accompany releases.

“This is the dream job I didn’t even know existed or could exist when I was in grad school,” Hurt said. “I was pursuing the things I loved doing and happened to be in the right environment, and when the need arose, and I jumped over and started doing it.”

Hurt soon found himself overwhelmed by the workload. When the job was posted, Pyle leaped at the opportunity to pursue his childhood love of illustrating space scenes.

Pyle and Hurt developed a shorthand based on their love of science fiction. When they received data from the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope or Kepler Spacecraft, one had to make only a passing mention of planets from “Star Wars,” like Hoth, Tatooine or Mustafar, and the other understood perfectly.

Artist's portrayal of a classical nova explosion.
Artist's portrayal of a classical nova explosion.
K. Ulaczyk/Warsaw University Observatory

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“I saw the original film in the theater when I was very young,” Pyle said. “For close to the next decade, ‘Star Wars’ dominated my life in terms of the toys and comics that I consumed. It’s one of the biggest reasons I pursued a career in film production.

“To me, planets around binary star systems will always be Tatooine planets. I find myself measuring molten exoplanet artist concepts against Mustafar. And I still can’t look at Saturn’s moon Minas without hearing Alec Guinness’ voice in my head, warning me ‘that’s no moon …’ “

But Hurt said that astronomers and artists such as himself are still trying to get past the “physically meaningless” representation of an asteroid field in “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.” Rather than being like active mine fields, asteroids aren’t typically so close together or constantly colliding. Over time, they would just turn to dust.

“Can we get past the idea that sending something through the asteroid belt is akin to throwing meat down a meat grinder?” Hurt asked.

From arrays to art

Apart from the researchers, Pyle and Hurt are some of the first to learn about new discoveries in space, like the first detection of gravitational waves or the first detection of light from an exoplanet.

“My favorite part about it is to really find out about some of the fundamentally exciting science when it is literally a secret,” Hurt said. “To be involved in the early stages before the public is aware and then have this joy of being able to shape the way that story is told is a very cool part of the job.”

Kepler K2 mission 100 new planets
NASA/JPL-Caltech

Related article NASA's K2 mission finds more than 100 new planets

The process to create a rendering is the same each time. Hurt and Pyle are briefed on the research and its findings so they can start coming up with an idea of how to represent it and whether it requires an illustration. Then, they hop on a conference call with the researchers to ask detailed questions and confirm what it may look like.

Sometimes, the scientists have concepts of what they would like to see. Other times, their conversation with the artists is the first time they’ve thought about their discovery visually. Together, they work out balancing the science with visual storytelling to represent an artistic hypothesis.

After Pyle and Hurt send a first draft back to the researchers, they usually make tweaks based on the feedback and pull together the final image.

Pyle mostly illustrates exoplanets, stars and asteroids, while Hurt’s specialties align with data coming from the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, and depicting information around black holes.

Occasionally, they fight over who gets to illustrate certain findings. Other times, they argue over how best to represent it.

“Often, by the time we hash it all out, we end up with something better than if left to our own devices,” Hurt said.

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    Because of their backgrounds, Hurt helps explain some of the concepts from the research to Pyle. In turn, Pyle shares graphics and animation production techniques and styles with Hurt.

    “I am really appreciative of how he elevates my art, and I think I’m just grateful I have this asset that artists like me don’t have,” Pyle said.

    And together, Hurt and Pyle are doing what they always dreamed and eagerly awaiting the next exciting discoveries they get to illustrate.

    “I’ve been delighted to have the chance to connect my personal love of science fiction to my profession of communicating the amazing science being done that is starting to connect what we know to things that we’ve only dreamed about,” Hurt said.