Mining exotic gases in the atmosphere of Jovian-class gas giant planets is big business. The larger stations, hanging in the upper reaches of the gas giants' atmosphere, always attract commerce, and require their own infrastructure to keep operating efficiently.
In this image, a host of ships of various classes and functions come and go in the airspace surrounding a busy mining/storage facility. Some bear ultra-wealthy patrons for the luxury hotel on-station, seeking a few days' rest floating above the clouds. The crews of other ships are more eager to work, earning the credits required to maintain their vessels and their way of life...
Other than the old classic 'Bryce floating reflective spheres' routine, this image was an exercise in cloud creation. All items are actually to scale, but this is not immediately apparent, in spite of the different vertical levels employed; increasing the haze content, which would have provided a visual cue as to distance, muted the clouds and atmosphere beyond the station to an unacceptable level.
Many thanks to Peter St. Clair for the inspiration for the mining facility itself... Thanks also to the folks behind the BryceTech tutorials, for a multitude of useful tips - in this case, on creating clouds
Updated 2002.04 Ever since the release of Bryce 5, with its greatly-improved volumetric textures, I've had a hankering to revisit this image and fix up the clouds. I've finally done so, and also added a bit of detail to the landing platform atop the mining structure.
For the sake of comparison, here is the original image:
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