Always great to see new pieces from you. This is another great piece that I love and admire. I have been watching you for the majority of the time I have spent at DeviantART and all your pieces are fantastic and this as well.

Placement and look are by far above average and the shooting stars adds a great sparkle to the piece. As was said in one of the above critiques, the plant looks a little out of place and the dark side could use a little work.

Your Technique, as always, is flawless and looks completely professional. Well... theres not much else to say but good job and I will be looking forward to your future works of amazing art.

Yet again, it is always a pleasure to see something new from you - and this piece has a particularly interesting aesthetic to it, compared to your other works. Specifically, there is, on the one hand, a sense of capturing the bold forms of nebulae as witnessed in astrophotography, whilst synthesising it with the flare (literally) of contemporary space art and the extrasolar peculiarity of traditional space art. This certainly brings about an interesting piece, and one which is worthy of a little more elaboration.

Firstly I must comment on the overall setting out of the piece, with its scenery. The composition works intrigueingly well, mostly due to the ideal highlights of the nebulae's form, as it extends outwards (or inwards, if you prefer) from the planetary body, the comets being as objects in front of the composition, without imposing upon it. And the colours, as usual, are very attractive and work well to distinguish the details and forms.

Regarding the planets, the gas planet looks excellent, although there is a slightly rough edge to on the left, distinguished quite well from the softness of the right. This may be fixed merely by taking away the slight dark band about it, rather than blurring it, which could remove some of its realism. The smaller planet is rather 'cute', but I really don't see it adding much here with its current position and lighting. Moving it further to its darkside, perhaps lighting the gas planet, and giving it a little more depth in detail, could all possibly help it. Another thing you could do with it, or in addition to it, is to add some other planetoids in the piece, for instance, to the left mid-way of the piece, ensuring that it suits well with the overall form of the image.

The starfield and nebulae here is nigh flawless, with impressive whisps of light and just a good sense of depth overall, with the minimal sprinkle of stars and the realistic details in the gas. One possible suggestion is to add a few more smaller stars with obvious interaction in the nebulae, perhaps around the large apparent stars and some isolated nebulae, as at the moment, most of the depth of interaction is had only with those larger stars. The nebulae top right also seems a little burnt compared to the rest, though it would be nice to see some of its contrast remain if you do edit it.

The flares are an interesting addition which give the piece some interest, too. Only, it seems, that there is a partial lack of depth as you get deeper out into the piece with them. They seem to be on a plane. There is a little depth with the varying sizes, but it doesn't seem apparent enough. Perhaps if you alter the prominence of each one's light as they go further out, and adding a few smaller ones further yet for a consistent gradient, then the depth might be enhanced further.

Overall, another enjoyable piece, and hopefully my suggestions have been helpful in furthering the quality of your work further. The form, its scenery, and the spectacular backdrop amidst the action is all quite nice, and with a few more tweaks here and there, something one would find difficult to make better.