Earth and Mars Cross Per Martineau

This image was inspired by the illustration at the bottom of page 40 of the remarkable work of John Martineau, in "A Little Book of Coincidence". A circle (Earth orbit) just touches each of 4 small circles, which in turn, each just touch 4 larger circles, which each touch the largest outer circle (Mars orbit). Spheres are used to represent the circles for artistic effect, and the outermost eight spheres are decorative only. More info: http://www.GeometryCode.com. Tiled planes of a colourized map of Mars sketched by the astronomer Antoniadi (left & right) and the lights of Earth at night (top & bottom) form the background. I think John Martineau's name will (some day, hopefully soon!) be heralded among Kepler, Galileo, Newton and Einstein for the astronomical discoveries he's made. Here's a link to John's book if you haven't seen it (HIGHLY recommended): http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0802713882/intent-20 (Created with POV-Ray http://www.povray.org)