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Planet Tutorial — Description
Here's a tutorial on how to create a realistic planet FROM SCRATCH using NOTHING but Photoshop.

Open a new document that's 2000 x 2000 pixels.

First, you will need to create a texture for the planet's surface. I have chosen to run the filter "Difference Clouds" ten times on each color channel individually (red, green, blue). This gives a very colorful, cloudy appearance to the entire frame. (See Fig. 1)

Second, select a large circular section from the middle of the image. Be sure to make the selection completely circular. Cut this out and paste it onto its own layer. This is your planet. (See Fig. 2)

Next, run a filter of your choosing on the planet to change its appearance from a cloudy fractal to something more planet-like. I have chosen the 'watercolor' filter. (See Fig. 3)

For more texture, duplicate the planet layer. Convert the planet to grayscale, run the emboss filter on it, then change the layer blending to 'soft light' to make the texture appear 3-dimensional. (See Fig. 4)

Flatten these 2 layers together. This is the new planet.

To give your planet a 3-Dimensional look, we need to convert it into a sphere. Select only the planet. (Ctrl-click on the thumbnail on the layers tab.) Run the filter/distort/spherize command. This will make your planet appear spherical. (See Fig. 5)

Next, you might want to colorize your planet for that certain 'barely habitable' look. I have chosen to make my planet a rusty and barren place. Add a hue/saturation layer and set the 'colorize' option. Choose a nice orange color (hue 35) and set the saturation to your liking. (See Fig. 6)

Flatten these 2 layers together. This is the new planet.

To give your planet a 3-Dimensional Lighting effect, choose filter/render/lighting_effects. Use the default setting, change the source to the upper left corner, and make sure the width of the ellipse is as wide as your planet. Once complete, your planet will now look 3D. (See Fig. 7)

You may stop here if your planet doesn't have an atmosphere. If it does, proceed to the next step.

To create clouds, we will use a similar technique. First, render 5-10 iterations of the 'Difference Clouds' on a new layer. Select the area of the planet (ctrl-click on it's layer thumbnail) and cut and paste it onto its own layer. Next change the levels (ctrl-L) to set the amount of clouds. I have chosen about 80, gamma of 2.0, and left the high end at 255. Next use select/color_range to select the brightest part of the clouds. Set the 'fuzziness' parameter to 200 and click OK. On a new layer, paint in this selection with a bright white. This is your cloud layer. (See Fig. 8)

Next, apply the spherize command to the cloud layer to make the clouds appear spherical. (See Fig. 9)

Then apply the same lighting effects to the cloud layer to make the clouds match the lighting of the planet. (See Fig. 10)

For realistic cloud shadows, you need to make a duplicate of the cloud layer, lock its transparency (on the layers tab), and fill it in with pitch black. You should have what looks like black clouds identical to the white ones. Place these 'black clouds' below the white ones. This is your cloud shadow layer. Since all shadows should appear to be below the clouds, and 'down' is always towards the center of the planet, you can select the cloud shadow layer and resize it to about 99% of its original size, centered around the planet's center. (Press ctrl-T for free transform, start dragging the corner handle, hold down shift to ensure the aspect is maintained, and alt to ensure that the operation occurs around the center.) When you are done, the cloud shadows layer should be slightly smaller than the clouds, and centered on the planet. (See Fig. 11)

The final phases are to create a realistic atmosphere.

First, create a black circle the same size as your planet. (New layer, ctrl-click on the layer thumbnail for the planet layer, then fill with black.) This will be your atmosphere layer. Set the layer blending to 'screen'. Open the layer effects dialogue and set the following:

Enable the 'drop shadow' option. Set the color to a nice blue, and set the lighting direction to the lower right. Set the drop shadow to 100% opacity, normal mode, and with an offset that is slightly off, and slightly blurry. This is the part of your atmosphere that overlaps the background. (See Fig. 12a)

Enable the 'inner shadow' option. Set the color to the same nice blue as before, and set the lighting direction to the upper left. Set the inner shadow to 100% opacity, normal mode, and with a very large size and distance. This is the main atmosphere of your planet. (See Fig. 12b)

Next you can enable a 'dim light' atmosphere effect. I have chosen a rusty color to enhance the barren feel of this planet. Set the inner glow and outer glow to be the same rusty color. Set the inner glow to be somewhat larger (See Fig. 12c) than the outer glow (See Fig. 12d).

Then you will have a complete atmosphere. (See Fig. 13)

Enable all layer sets, from top to bottom: Atmosphere, Clouds, Cloud Shadows, and Planet. (See Fig. 14)

There you have it! A complete planet FROM SCRATCH using NOTHING but Photoshop!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!
-Brackman71