347-jupiter-meteor-dixon – A dramatic first-person perspective from within the upper atmosphere of Jupiter, capturing the high-velocity entry and detonation of a massive bolide or comet fragment. The meteor cuts a brilliant, glowing ionization trail vertically through a pale blue upper sky, piercing layered decks of white ammonia cumulus clouds and impacting the denser, ochre-tinted ammonium hydrosulfide clouds below. The point of airburst triggers powerful concentric shockwaves and thermal ripples across the Jovian cloudscape, while the distant Sun and small crescent moons hang calmly above the atmospheric disturbance. commisioned for Carl Sagan's book "Comet". acrylic on illustration board, 1987.
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