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.