I'm basing this off of actual dimensions given in Space Settlements: A Design Study, and on image AC76-0525f from NASA. Some notes about the content:
- The stars are not nearly as thick as they should be -- but, the ones shown are all real stars, in their correct positions.
- The radius of the main wheel is 830 meters. The radius of the "tire" (i.e. the torus minor radius) is 65 meters. So the living space of each habitat is over 100 meters across and 5 km long.
- See those tiny little specs on the central hub? Those aren't reflections of stars -- they're windows, each 1.5 meters high and 4 meters wide!
- The main mirrors (the big disc below each habitat) are not positioned correctly for either habitat, given the angle of the light. In reality, they would be oriented so as to reflect the light up into the habitat via the secondary mirrors around the hub. But the given orientation makes for a much better composition... and perhaps we can claim that it's night time in the colony.
- That thing to the lower right is a small solar power satellite, about 7 km away.
The image is generated by POV-Ray 3.6, using this POV-Ray source file and starmap.png from Paul Bourke.
I still have a long way to go, but I think it's a good start.
To the right is an animation of the same model, rotating at the correct rate of 1 RPM. (If you've just come to my page, the GIF may still be loading, and will be slower than it should until the animation has been completely loaded.) Note how the outer radiation shell (the "tire") remains stationary, while the inner part (the "wheel") rotates within it.
Please send comments, suggestions, encouragement, or any other feedback to joe@strout.net.