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I have written a modest tutorial on how to build realistic-looking planets with Povray using two images and 60 lines of code. If high-resolution image material is used, the results look better than photographs taken by amateur astronomers with the most expensive equipment in the world.

I have already published some renderings of our Earth-Moon, last month I tried the same with planet Mars. NASA has also put high-resolution maps of Mars on the Internet, with the help of which I created a movie and close-ups of interesting areas.

After creating two HD movies of the dark side last month, it was now the turn of maps, global views and images of craters. It has some really beautiful areas on the far side of the moon, which I wasn't aware of before.

Small comparison between an analog image of the Lunar crater Plato from the 90s, and a recent rendering of the same area. The difference is quite ... fiercely.

Two more videos of the Moon are ready. Both show the crater Copernicus in different magnifications.

In the last few days I've been playing around with Povray again, realistic pictures and videos of the moon have come out. Global views, enlargements around Plato crater, and of course stereo versions.