As many have noticed, Extrasolar Visions has been inactive since August of 2003. My excuse? Actually, I have three. My son, now almost two years old, has taken much of my time, and what spare time I do have has been devoted to a writing project unrelated to EV. What's the third reason? Well it's the biggest. This site was born of speculation, of the sheer strangeness and wonder of these new planets. Now we know of ancient worlds zipping around pulsars, giant worlds baking in orbits impossibly tight around their host stars, worlds whose orbits are as eccentric as that any comet, and worlds clearing huge swaths out of the vast circumstellar disks from which they sprang. When I created my first speculative renderings in 1995 and 1996, only a few planets had yet been discovered, and each seemed a unique prize. Their names are still the first that come to mind when I think of extrasolar planets: 51 Pegasi b, 47 Ursae Majoris b, 70 Virginis b, 55 Cancri b. That was almost ten years ago. Now, we know about dozens of worlds beyond the sun. It's a stunning achievement for science, but it's bad for speculative artists. Why? Because, how many unique pictures of a "Hot Jupiter" can you really come up with? When the first was discovered, the mind soared. But now there are thirty of these things. The orbital and mass data we have are not enough to predict the unique properties and appearance that each of these worlds is certain to have. So we are left with thirty nearly identical pictures. You can see the affect on the art published by NASA and others with each discovery. Quick renderings of a Jupiteresque planet, often in silhouette against its star, looming nearby. There are as many of these nearly identical images on the web as there are known Hot Jupiters. And the same can be said for the other types of planets that have been discovered. I am unwilling to make a host of stock images and label them, quite randomly, HD 75289 b or TrES-1. Thus, my artwork has been on hiatus for several years because it seemed that there had been no truly new discoveries. This discouragement was strong enough that when a few unique planets were discovered, such as the cluster planet s Ori 70, or the planet orbiting the binary gamma Cephei, or the announcement of a comet-like tail trailing HD 209458 b, I never bothered to render them. This has changed. In recent days, a new class of planets have been announced, the so called "Super Earths." They have the mass of Neptune, but are epistellar, like the "Hot Jupiters." They also seem to be orbiting high metalicity stars. It's tempting to speculate that these are rocky terrestrial worlds with thin atmospheres, big versions of Venus or Mercury, rather than "Hot Neptunes." But, we don't know. They could be the cores of former "Hot Jupiters" whose atmospheres have been stripped by their host stars. Or they could be true "Hot Neptunes," stunted Jovians that fell into tight orbits through interactions with long dispersed circumstellar disks. One thing is certain, however: these worlds offer new opportunities for artists. It's because of these new announcements that I have come back to Extrasolar Visions to put things in order. As of now, the site is fully updated with the discoveries, and retractions, I missed over the past year. The vrml of the various systems have also been updated. And, what about the artwork? I am currently undertaking an overhaul of the imagery on Extrasolar Visions. The outdated pictures of 51 Pegasi, for instance, will be replaced with more accurate renditions. Planets that deserve art will receive it. But, I will not attempt to render an image for every planet, only the ones that have something to set them apart from their kin. To make it easier to find these more photogenic worlds, I will be adding a "Grand Tour" section to Extrasolar Visions. The Tour will highlight both unique worlds and worlds that serve as archetypes for the various classes of planet that have been found, and will include new artwork. Planets not on the Tour will have links to their close cousins that are on the Tour. It is my hope that, with the Grand Tour, the visions will return to Extrasolar Visions. Further out, I am planning a general redesign of the site to update the look and feel as well as a section discussing the various planet hunting teams and methods of detection, something that has been overdue on Extrasolar Visions. So, thank you for sticking with me and keep checking in, for things are afoot! - John T. M. Whatmough