Planets in TOS and TOS Remastered

by Jörg Hillebrand, Anthony Pascale and Bernd Schneider, with comments from Max Gabl and Mike Okuda

General NotesTalos IVPlanet 1EarthGuardian PlanetPlanet 2Planet 3Sigma DraconisExcalbiaAsteroidNew in TOS-ROther Celestial Objects

 

In the three seasons of Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS) we could see a variety of planets in space, with or without the Enterprise in orbit, on average almost one per episode. In order to let them appear as realistic as possible with the techniques of the 1960s, the planets are usually visibly spinning, even though they are typically shown just for seconds at a time, hereby exploiting the advantage of a three-dimensional globe over a simple photo. Also, the scenes were filmed from various angles to add diversity, although the ship's positions in orbit may not always be consistent in an episode.

At least one of these planet models (referred to by us as planet 1) was surprisingly detailed as we can see on a photo. But like with shots of the Enterprise, the filming techniques and the film transfer of the 1960s didn't allow a better resolution.

It looks like there used to be no more than five distinct planet models that were modified through color overlays to represent different planets. In several cases no changes at all were made, and stock footage served to represent a new planet.

Thanks to CGI, these shortcomings were eventually corrected in the remastered version of Star Trek (TOS-R), produced by CBS Digital from 2006 to 2008. In TOS-R every planet has a distinctive appearance, even though the consequence is that few of them still look as they did in TOS. Overall, the variety of planet surfaces has considerably increased, while the color variations are not as remarkable as in TOS any longer, owing to the use of more natural hues in TOS-R.

Our article has two purposes: It identifies the planet models that can be seen in TOS in the order of their appearance and a couple of other celestial objects, something that has never been done systematically before. All headings and other classifications refer to the TOS versions of the planets. We then contrast these planets with the new ones of TOS-R. Note that we didn't bother to match the perspectives of our TOS and the TOS-R screen caps because in the exactly corresponding shots in the episodes they often don't match either. So we picked TOS screen caps that show identical planets from as many different angles as possible for the sake of diversity, and TOS-R caps that provide a good look at the new planet surface.

Mike Okuda has been a co-producer of TOS-R. Max Gabl created most of the planets and matte paintings for the show. We have been able to gather many comments from the two on what they changed and why.

 

General Notes

All planets to be re-imagined for TOS-R were specified in a way to comply with existing location and planet set shots before the task was given to the artists.

Max Gabl: "Usually Mike [Okuda] and Dave [Rossi] approached me with the basic concept of the planet. Something like, 'earthlike, with large dark mountain ranges, pink skies, poles, swirly type of clouds, 30 percent oceans.' These preconditions came from the shots in the corresponding episode. If we could see a red sky and a sandy soil, the planet had to look like that from outside too. Aside from these specifications, I enjoyed almost absolute freedom. Naturally, there were also the inevitable last-minute revisions. It was very pleasant to work with Mike Okuda. He is a great artist in his field and a nice person. He created almost all graphics for Star Trek and was the architect of many of the buildings. 'He's got the Star Trek look down to a science'."

Once Max Gabl had the basic parameters of a planet, it was up to him to get its look right.

Max Gabl: "First I was given instructions for the planets, including surface type, cloud type, atmosphere color, percentage of water bodies, special features, etc. Then I asked my own set of questions mostly on scale, light/type preferences, etc. Based on the specifications I received, I could determine the feasibility of the assignment. E.g.: a red atmosphere over a lush, green canopy of plants, as seen from space, would translate into a brownish canopy (also imagine what the red will do to the blue oceans underneath). This could confuse the viewer who just saw a shot filmed on a stage with a lush green forest foreground with a red stage sky behind, not affecting the greens in the shot.

The red sky on Gamma Trianguli VI...

...requires a brownish canopy of the planet.

Add to the assignment, that the producer wants to see a hint of the tall buildings on the planet from space. How tall would the 1000 feet buildings have to be to be visible from space? 100 miles tall maybe? That would make the planet look small. So at the end it was about what was possible without sacrificing realism, so the viewer could 'live' in the image. I projected the textures onto 3D geometry, which was the fastest solution due to the fact, that painting a sphere from scratch, with the constantly mathematically correct shifting of perspective and falloff, proves to be quite a task, and sometimes weeks of work. A lot of times, I modeled and lit entire scenes in 3D and then painted them over. The average time frame given for the planets though was about 2 days a piece.

Along with the 49 planets I created, there were 33 additional 'on the surface' matte paintings and a few nebulas for TOS-R on my list, some purely 2D and some 3D/2D. And there were other shows on the side to be worked on (btw, I was not involved with the outside Enterprise shots). [...] Niel Wray, our vfx supervisor, contributed some excellent 3D buildings (along with his valuable insights and knowledge of course) to some of the surface matte paintings, by the way."

While new planets were not created from scratch, every one of them went through several design steps.

Max Gabl: "I started with templates from NASA that I manipulated until I had something to work with. Then a lot of 'paint from scratch' was added to the mix. When I'm talking of 'paint from scratch', I mean painting with a pen on a graphics table (Wacom Tablet). Many of the initial textures that I created were later modified (repainted, colored, cloned, etc.) and used for new planets. When I had the textures ready, I projected them onto 3D spheres. I also obtained so-called geo-data for the elevations (mountains & valleys) from geological web sites, and I painted over them and otherwise modified them to be used as so-called bump and displacement maps. This is how the 3-dimensional look of my planets was created. It was much work to harmonize the color textures and the displacement maps. The clouds (all of which are painted) consist of so-called alpha channels that I projected on a second, slightly larger half-transparent sphere. This gives us the illusion of a cloud layer hovering above the planet. Finally I painted over the projections ('fine tuning') once again, in order to eliminate the '3D look' and to add some extra details."

Unlike it was customary in the time of TOS, no footage was simply turned or mirrored to act as a different planet.

Max Gabl: "I recycled textures and displacement maps and rearranged, recolored, repainted them. Mirroring would be too obvious, and a lot of the textures repeat (tile) around the sphere, being obvious too. Most of the times, in TOS-R you see the planets do only a small turning movement..."

The majority of planets of TOS-R was created by CGI artist Max Gabl. The planets not done by him include: M113, Planet Q, Beta III, Organia, Starbase 11 planet (from space), Earth (all appearances), Cestus III, Beta XII-A, Guardian of Forever planet, Amusement Park Planet, Capella IV, Tyree's planet aka Neural, Kelvan, Ekos.

Max Gabl: "Niel Wray [TOS-R VFX supervisor] told me that he used photos of Earth for one or two shots. [...] It looks like some of these planets are based on photos of Earth and of existing planets, blended with textures that are partially derived from my creations. Most of the artists that were working for TOS-R with CBSD are not here any longer. So I can't provide more detailed information on their planets."

 

Talos IV

The first ever planet visualized for Star Trek is Talos IV in the first pilot movie "The Cage", which later appears in TOS: "The Menagerie, Part II" too. The surface of Talos was created coloring a picture of Earth's Moon and overlaying a cloud pattern. See also at StarTrekHistory.com.

Talos IV ("The Cage") In the production and airing order of TOS-R, "The Cage" comes after "The Menagerie". Although the scenes showing Talos IV are essentially the same, a somewhat different version of the planet appears in the remastered version of "The Cage" than the new look already established in "The Menagerie". Mike Okuda: "Talos IV was refined slightly between 'The Menagerie' remastered and 'The Cage' remastered, although care was taken to make sure it looks like the same planet. CBS-D's techniques for creating planets evolved over the early course of the series. By the time we got to 'Court Martial' and 'The Cage,' Niel Wray (our VFX supervisor) felt he could do better. We agreed to let him do so as long as the overall look of the planets remained the same."

Talos IV (TOS: "The Menagerie, Part II") The modification of Earth's moon was replaced with a newly created "CGI marble" in more natural colors for TOS-R: "The Menagerie, Part II".

While the Talos-Moon never appeared again as a "live" planet in Star Trek, we can see its picture as set dressing on the Enterprise's bridge in countless TOS and TOS-R episodes.

 

Planet 1

Planet 1a - brown/red

Planet 1a is characterized by its brown basic color, its rather blurred surface and the elongated cloud stripes that indicate a fast rotation. And really, we can see in brief shots with the Enterprise in orbit that the planet is spinning. Planet 1a begins its life in the second pilot episode, TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before". In "The Alternative Factor" Spock says about the planet of that episode: "Iron-silicon base, oxygen-hydrogen atmosphere, largely arid, no discernible life".

The same planet reappears several times in TOS, predominantly in the first season, twice in the second and just once in the third season. We can mostly see it in composite shots with the Enterprise in space, less frequently on the main bridge viewer. Quite possibly all these later incarnations are stock footage that was already shot for TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before". While the brightness, contrast and the exact hue is subject to vary, the brownish color remains essentially the same in all following TOS episodes with Planet 1a.

Delta Vega (TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before") In TOS-R the appearance of the new Delta Vega is quite close to the original. The planet is still brown, with the typical cloud rings. No surface details are discernible. Mike Okuda: "Delta Vega and M-113 were two cases in which I specifically asked for the remastered planets to closely resemble the originals. I would have preferred that Delta Vega be even closer to the original."
Alfa 177 (TOS: "The Enemy Within") Alfa 177, represented by Planet 1a in TOS, received a complete makeover for TOS-R. The new planet is still brown, albeit somewhat less intensive. It lacks the high cloud density, however. Moreover, its surface is cratered now.
M-113 (TOS: "The Man Trap") For the remastered episode Planet 1a was replaced by a red Vulcan-like planet with cloud rings. The latter are similar to Delta Vega in TOS-R: "Where No Man Has Gone Before", but M-113 has a better recognizable surface. The darker areas are possibly oceans or inland seas.
Tantalus V (TOS: "Dagger of the Mind") The remastered planet seems to have large oceans and is overall more Earth-like than the original. In a newly created matte painting, replacing the previous stock footage from "Where No Man Has Gone Before", we can see a blue sky. The most significant change is the addition of a Saturn-like ring, which is visible in space and likewise in the planet's sky. Max Gabl: "I only did the planet, the rings were added later. I remember putting them into the surface painting though."
Benecia (TOS: "The Conscience of the King") The remastered Benecia's color is very faint, possibly plain gray. Its cratered surface makes the planet look somewhat like Earth's Moon, although it does have an atmosphere and clouds.
Planet Q (TOS: "The Conscience of the King") The remastered Planet Q was given a brighter greenish beige color. The rugged surface may be made up of a combination of mountain ranges and craters. There are no visible oceans. The matte painting of the planet surface with its purple sky is still the same. However, if we look closely we can see a purple seam around the planet.
Gothos (TOS: "The Squire of Gothos") The surface structure of the remastered planet bears some resemblance to the original Planet 1a, but the color has been switched from red to dark yellow. The planet has an overall distinct volcanic look. Max Gabl: "One of the 'juicier' assignments I got, indeed."
Lazarus's planet (TOS: "The Alternative Factor") The new planet seems to be a desert planet akin to Vulcan. The overall color is brownish red, there are relatively small lakes or inland seas and few clouds. Max Gabl: "I used the Caspian Sea as reference [for the small oceans or lakes], with its green and ultramarine colored regions, if I remember correctly. I was given instructions on color and surface detail, including so and so much of the surface should be water."
Beta III (TOS: "The Return of the Archons") Beta III has been turned into a much more Earth-like Class-M planet with blue atmosphere, which was the obvious choice, considering that its civilization is very Earth-like as well. We can recognize large mountain ranges and ice caps. It is also worth mentioning that a network of streets is recognizable in close-ups.
Janus VI (TOS: "The Devil in the Dark") The remastered Janus VI is very much like the original. Only the color is rather yellow than red now. Max Gabl: "I don't remember doing a planet for this one, just the mining colony. This was my very first assignment and the planet was done before 'my time' I guess."
Organia (TOS: "Errand of Mercy") Organia, another planet with a (seemingly) Earth-like civilization was given a similar treatment as Tantalus V. The remastered planet features large oceans and Earth-like cloud patterns, but has a "dirty" brownish atmosphere as seen from space.
Mudd's planet (TOS: "I, Mudd") The uninhabitable Class-K planet was given an accordingly inhospitable look in TOS-R. A luminescent ring was added, although the intensive light may be due to the proximity of the planet's star as well.
Argus X (TOS: "Obsession") Argus X has become a very Earth-like planet in TOS-R, with large clouds and deep blue oceans in the remastered version.
Ardana (TOS: "The Cloud Minders") Ardana, unlike many of the other incarnations of Planet 1a, used to be rather red than brown in TOS. In TOS-R the planet has kept its red hue, albeit somewhat less intensive. The basic surface structure and color as visible from the Enterprise's orbit matches the views from Ardana (in a supposedly lower orbit) that are based on a NASA satellite photo of Wadi Hadramawt. Max Gabl: "Glad you like it! Mike tried to be as accurate as POSSIBLE."

Planet 1b - blue

This is the very same model as Planet 1a. However, since the script of TOS: "Mudd's Women" called for a windy and cold planet, the available shots of Delta Vega (Planet 1a) were colored bluish for Rigel XII. We can see that the blue color is a modification accomplished by filming the original footage through a blue filter, since the formerly brown/white image has gained an overall blue tint. The bright blue clouds against the very dark blue surface make Planet 1b rather unrealistic. Still, in the blue guise the planet model made a total of six appearances in TOS, five in season 1 and the second appearance as the Starbase 11 planet in "The Menagerie, Part I" in season 2.

Rigel XII (TOS: "Mudd's Women") The blue Planet 1b from TOS was converted to a brownish planet with surface detail for TOS-R. Complying with the newly created shots of the camps on the surface, the remastered planet appears from space as a rugged brown wasteland.
Psi 2000 (TOS: "The Naked Time") The ice planet Psi 2000 appears as a quite convincing bluish marble in TOS-R.
Exo III (TOS: "What Are Little Girls Made of?") The remastered Exo III is a very Earth-like planet with blue atmosphere, clouds, mountains and oceans.
Starbase 11 planet (TOS: "Court Martial") Starbase 11 is located on an unnamed planet. Its sky, as seen from the surface that was carefully reimagined for TOS-R, is purple. The oceans as seen from space have an accordingly lilac hue. Other than that, the planet is Earth-like.
Eminiar VII (TOS: "A Taste of Armageddon") Eminiar VII became another very Earth-like Class-M planet in the remastered version. We can see deep blue seas and lush green land areas. Also, there are large spots and chains of yellow light, indicating the presence of a civilization. Max Gabl: "Someone else did this one, but I redid it and changed mainly the night city lights."
Starbase 11 planet (TOS: "The Menagerie, Part I") While the TOS version of the Starbase 11 planet in this episode is naturally identical to the one previously seen in TOS: "Court Martial", the remastered planet is not the very same model in the two corresponding TOS-R episodes. Actually, TOS-R: "The Menagerie" was produced as one of the first episodes, some time prior to TOS-R: "Court Martial". For the latter the model was rebuilt. Mike Okuda: "Same thing [refinement due to improved techniques] with the Starbase 11 planet between 'The Menagerie' and 'Court Martial.'"

Planet 1c - green

The original footage of Planet 1a was modified one more time in the same fashion as with Planet 1b, this time with a green new tint. This green variant Planet 1c appears in two more episodes, giving us a total of 22 appearances of all versions of Planet 1.

Taurus II (TOS: "The Galileo Seven") In TOS-R the space phenomenon surrounding the planet (the quasar-like Murasaki 312) is green, as opposed to the planet itself, which is a gray wasteland. Max Gabl: "I did the planet and the nebula separately but did not composite them to the final shot(s). I remember talking about having some green spill onto Taurus if the Nebula is close."
Omicron Ceti III (TOS: "This Side of Paradise") Omicron Ceti III was turned into a planet resembling Earth for TOS-R. Like Taurus II, this planet retained some green-ness as a reminiscence of the original. Could the greenish polar lights in its atmosphere represent the Berthold radiation?

 

Earth

Earth in natural colors

The second planet model created for TOS is the one of Earth. The planet appears for the first time in TOS: "Miri", here portraying a precise replica of Earth that remains unexplained. In this episode Earth does not yet have clouds and looks accordingly unrealistic. Clouds were added for Earth in TOS: "Tomorrow is Yesterday". In TOS: "Assigment Earth", however, the planet is cloudless again, owing to the use of stock footage of Miri's planet.

Miri's planet (TOS: "Miri") In TOS-R Miri's planet is still a precise duplicate of Earth, using a much more sophisticated 3D model, of course with clouds this time.
Earth (TOS: "Tomorrow is Yesterday") Earth is very detailed in TOS-R, and shown from much more diverse angles than in TOS (e.g. including the Moon).
Earth (TOS: "Assignment: Earth") We can see more shots of the detailed CGI of Earth in the remastered episode.

Earth recolored

The model of Earth was modified with color filters in the same fashion as the other TOS planets. We can see such variations of Earth as the Amusement Park Planet (green, showing North America reversed on our screen cap) and as Cestus III (orange, showing South East Asia). Both are based on stock footage of the cloudless Miri planet.

Amusement Park Planet (TOS: "Shore Leave") The planet, obviously Class M, looks much more inviting in TOS-R.
Cestus III (TOS: "Arena") The formerly orange planet is yellow in TOS-R. Aside from the thicker atmosphere, the new Cestus III may be overall akin to Mars. The location shoots, which were modified for TOS-R as well but still show a blue sky, insinuate that the planet is more Earth-like though.

 

Guardian of Forever Planet

This brown planet was specially created for TOS: "The City on the Edge of Forever". It possibly appeared as Planet 3 some time later. We couldn't find exact matches of clouds or surface patterns, but the only difference seems to be that the latter was accidentally or intentionally blurred during the filming.

Guardian of Forever planet (TOS: "The City on the Edge of Forever") In TOS-R the planet is still overall brown, with many mountain ranges, occasional clouds and possibly an ocean. The surface structure insinuates that the planet used to be geologically very active.

 

Planet 2

Planet 2 is a model with large oceans and continents, obviously primarily intended to represent Class-M worlds. The planet was filmed from many different angles, allowing it to appear as various different planets. Moreover, the footage was repeatedly rotated by 90° or 180° or mirrored, creating even more apparent diversity. As opposed to the earlier planet models, which frequently reappeared as unchanged stock footage, several shots of Planet 2 are exclusively shown in just one episode. For instance, the shots made for the first episode with Planet 2, TOS: "Operation: Annihilate", never appear anywhere else. Later episodes use other takes of the same planet that were apparently made early in the second season. In mid-season 2 some more shots were created, this time with the camera closer to the miniature, resulting in a still different look. Despite this variety in the footage, many incarnations of Planet 1 still look exactly alike, owing to the sheer number of appearances of this most often reused TOS planet.

It initially seemed like there could be more than one planet model of this kind. It was not easy to compare views of different sides of the globe, but after many comparisons, partially looking at rotated or reverse images, we found that the coastlines cross-match on all Planet 2 candidates. On our image identical portions of the coastlines are marked with the same color.

Planet 2a - Deneva

As already mentioned, the first shots of Planet 2 appear exclusively as Deneva.

Deneva (TOS: "Operation: Annihilate") Deneva received a similar treatment as other Class-M planets in TOS-R. As could be expected, it now looks much like Earth.

Planet 2b - Gamma Canaris region planetoid

The Companion's planet in this episode is new footage, which was additionally colored purple.

Gamma Canaris region planetoid (TOS: "Metamorphosis") For TOS-R the Companion's planet was transformed into a much more realistic brown rock. This does not seem to comply with the planet surface set, on which the sky is still purple. However, the thin atmosphere of the planet may be actually purple, and it looks like there is a faint purple seam around the otherwise brown rock.

Planet 2c - Capella IV et al.

Beginning in the second season with its many Earth-like planets, we can see newly filmed scenes of Planet 2 that appear in 13 episodes altogether. Tyree's planet uses just once shot of the Planet 2c footage. The rest seen in the episode is of the Planet 2g batch.

Capella IV (TOS: "Friday's Child") The TOS footage was replaced with a Class-M planet with striking turquoise oceans and remarkably elongated continents.
Tyree's planet aka Neural (TOS: "A Private Little War") The remastered version of this planet is very Earth-like with dark blue oceans.
Triskelion (TOS: "The Gamesters of Triskelion") In TOS-R Triskelion is apparently a Class-M planet with oceans, albeit with a brownish basic color. The sky as seen from the surface still has a somewhat lilac hue though. It is also worth mentioning that there are three suns in TOS-R, Triskelion being identified as a planet in a trinary system in the dialogue.
Kelvan planet (TOS: "By Any Other Name") The Kelvan colony planet appears as a Class-M world with oceans, mountain ranges and polar ice caps.
Ekos (TOS: "Patterns of Force") Like we could expect, Ekos is another remarkably Earth-like planet in TOS-R.
Alpha Carinae II (TOS: "The Ultimate Computer") Alpha Carinae II is a Class-M planet, whose large continents are rife with vegetation as it seems.
Triacus (TOS: "And the Children Shall Lead") The remastered Triacus barely looks like a Class-M world. Its two basic colors are brownish and gray. It looks like they represent two fundamentally different types of rock, rather than mainland and water, respectively.
Medusan homeworld (TOS: "Is There in Truth No Beauty?") The planet that was still visible in TOS was removed altogether from the TOS-R version and was replaced with a new Medusan starship.
Unnamed planet (TOS: "Is There in Truth No Beauty?") In TOS-R, the planet is characterized by large continents, lots of vegetation and obviously populous areas (as indicated by the lights).
Beta XII-A (TOS: "Day of the Dove") The planet is like many other Class-M worlds in TOS-R. There are polar lights like on Omicron Ceti III.
Kalandan outpost planet (TOS: "That Which Survives") The planet with the long abandoned outpost was remodeled for TOS-R to look "dead". Its surface structure and color resembles that of the Guardian of Forever planet.
Elba II (TOS: "Whom Gods Destroy") Elba II is an unusual planet in TOS-R. Much of it is covered by greenish (toxic) clouds, which now comply with the shots of the surface that were taken over from TOS. Underneath the clouds we can make out a brown rugged surface. Overall, the planet looks uninviting enough for a maximum security mental institute.
Sarpeidon (TOS: "All Our Yesterdays") Sarpeidon is a pleasantly blue and green world. It looks a bit brownish because of the red light from its central star that is about to go nova.

Planet 2d - Pollux IV

TOS: "Who Mourns for Adonais?" is another episode using footage of Planet 2 that appears exclusively just here.

Pollux IV (TOS: "Who Mourns for Adonais?") In TOS-R Pollux IV is naturally still Class M, with blue oceans and aquamarine (and hence supposedly shallow) lakes or lagoons.

Planet 2e - Vulcan et al.

For the first appearance of Vulcan the shots of Planet 2 was colored red using filters, letting the land as well as the seas appear red. Vulcan was created using footage of Planet 2c, but also new shots.

Vulcan (TOS: "Amok Time") The TOS-R version of Vulcan, basically a red desert planet with little surface water, looks very much as established in the Trek movies and in Star Trek Enterprise. This resemblance may be a lucky coincidence, however. Planet Mutations - Vulcan Max Gabl: "The look had just to resemble the shots taken on the Vulcan surface, and I basically made it up. I haven't seen the last season of Enterprise yet. I also painted two new shots of the ceremony arena on Vulcan for 'Amok Time' where Spock, Kirk, and McCoy beam down to, where - same here - I had to match the original shots of the surface."
Gamma Trianguli VI (TOS: "The Apple") Gamma Trianguli VI, home to a humanoid species, was transformed into a much more credible Earth-like world. The sky in the studio shots is still red, so the planet's green vegetation was given a slightly brownish hue. Also note the red seam around the globe.
Vulcan (TOS: "Journey to Babel") Due to the disorderly production and airing schedule of TOS-R, this episode comes before "Amok Time". The planet model is the same in both episodes.
Tycho IV (TOS: "Obsession") Tycho IV is the planet where Kirk and Garrovick, with an antimatter bomb, kill the cloud creature, thereby ripping away half the atmosphere, as Spock reckons. The lack of clouds when the ship is breaking orbit corroborates this notion. Most notably there is a huge crater and a wrinkled surface around it (effect of the shockwave), hinting at the recent detonation.
Melkot (TOS: "Spectre of the Gun") The remastered Melkot resembles the original. The color was toned down, and a wavy, probably volcanic surface was created.
Memory Alpha planet (TOS: "The Lights of Zetar") In TOS-R the planetary body on which Memory Alpha is located was turned into a cratered planetoid with large rifts. The most significant change, however, is the addition of a supposedly huge building complex for the Federation's largest information archive.

Planet 2f - Halkan et al.

New shots of Planet 2 were used for Halkan, a rose-colored planet. The shots also appear as Omega IV.

Halkan (TOS: "Mirror, Mirror") The remastered Halkan, as a rather prominent planet, partially retains its pink color. It looks like the day side is pink, while the dusk/dawn zone appears to be greenish.
Omega IV (TOS: "The Omega Glory") The TOS-R version of Omega IV does not really resemble the original. As the home to yet another amazingly Earth-like civilization, the planet was given a typical Class M look.

Planet 2g - 892-IV et al.

The noteworthy variation in the following appearances of Planet 1 is that the model was filmed from a different angle, closer to the globe. So either these planets are substantially bigger, or the Enterprise is in a lower orbit. Only in TOS: "A Private Little War", for Tyree's planet, there is a cross-over with Planet 2c footage. The Planet 2g shots were colored pink for TOS: "Requiem for Methuselah", in order to comply with Flint's castle (that is actually stock footage from "The Cage"). Furthermore, the planet Ariannus is shown as being cleaned.

892-IV (TOS: "Bread and Circuses") The planet, which is in the dialogue established as remarkably Earth-like, received a makeover to a Class-M world with bright blue oceans, probably small land areas and large cloud formations. Furthermore, we can see two moons, just like from the ground too.
Tyree's planet aka Neural (TOS: "A Private Little War") The remastered version of this planet is very Earth-like with dark blue oceans, as already mentioned under Planet 2c.
Elas (TOS: "Elaan of Troyius") In TOS-R the hurricane season is obviously at its height when the Enterprise visits the planet.
Miramanee's planet aka Amerind (TOS: "The Paradise Syndrome") The new planet is a typical Class-M world, characterized by its azure seas.
Ariannus (TOS: "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield") The dirty planet in TOS was made with a yellow filter. In TOS-R the planet planet is more realistically enveloped by a brownish gray dust layer. The cleaned up version looks like many other Class-M worlds of TOS-R.
Eden (TOS: "The Way to Eden") Eden remastered is a Class-M planet with a considerable share of green mainland areas. There are at least two moons that are visible from the ground too in TOS-R.
Holberg 917G (TOS: "Requiem for Methuselah") The sky in the newly created matte painting of Flint's palace is still pink. This sets the parameters for the planet as seen from space, which retains its purple hue. In the closing scene we can see two moons.
Camus II (TOS: "Turnabout Intruder") Camus II, which is established in the episode as another home of a long-extinct civilization, is yellow in TOS-R and is given a ring.

 

Planet 3

Planet 3 does not have recognizable continents. Much of its surface is covered by blurry clouds. We can imagine that the model stands for water planets when colored blue. Aside from blue, we can most often see Planet 3 in orange though. As already mentioned, it is absolutely possible that Planet 3 is identical to the Guardian of Forever planet, only that the latter was not so much blurred (was it done intentionally for Planet 3?).

The following composite image demonstrates how the differently colored planets, filmed from different angles, are still based on the same miniature of Planet 3. The cloud patterns are clearly identical.

Planet 3a - dark blue

The planet appears for the first time in TOS: "Catspaw", here in a darker blue gray, as opposed to the clear blue of later episodes.

Pyris VII (TOS: "Catspaw") Complying with the desolate impression of the planet's surface, Pyris VII became a rocky gray planet is TOS-R.

Planet 3b - light blue

This is the brighter blue version that appears in a total of four episodes.

Argelius II (TOS: "Wolf in the Fold") The hedonistic Argelius is a Class-M world with clearly visible population centers in TOS-R.
Sigma Iotia II (TOS: "A Piece of the Action") This very Earth-like planet was given a standard Class-M look in TOS-R.
Troyius (TOS: "Elaan of Troyius") The remastered Troyius is another typical Class-M planet, although its atmosphere seems to be somewhat darker.
Scalos (TOS: "Wink of an Eye") Scalos is Class M. The planet is characterized by some unusual geological formations, which appear colorful from space. It is worth mentioning that the matte painting of the Scalosian city, which used to be bluish like the whole planet, was modified to gray for TOS-R.

Planet 3c - orange

Planet 3 can be seen with dirty orange to brown color variations in eight more TOS episodes.

Gamma Hydra IV (TOS: "The Deadly Years") Similar to Organia, Ariannus and Triskelion, Gamma Hydra IV is basically Class M, but with a brownish (and thick?) atmosphere.
Gamma II (TOS: "The Gamesters of Triskelion") This planet surveyed by the Enterprise was given a large number of craters and a ring system in TOS-R.
Sargon's Planet aka Arret (TOS: "Return to Tomorrow") This is another planet made to look long-abandoned in TOS-R, similar to the Kalandan outpost planet or Alfa 117.
Zeon (TOS: "Patterns of Force") Zeon is the second Class-M planet with a ring in TOS-R, besides Tantalus V.
Minara II (TOS: "The Empath") Minara II became a red desert planet with very pronounced surface features.
Platonius (TOS: "Plato's Stepchildren") Platonius is a cozy Class-M world with large green mainland areas in TOS-R.
Cheron (TOS: "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield") Cheron was in urgent need for a makeover, to illustrate how it has been devastated by its inhabitants. And so it happened. In TOS-R it looks like the planet's crust has been ripped open in a large region.
Gideon (TOS: "The Mark of Gideon") The overcrowded Gideon became another "dirty" Class-M world in TOS-R. Maybe to insinuate that, due to the overpopulation the atmosphere has been polluted? Other than that, there are no signs of an extremely high population density though.

 

Sigma Draconis VI

It is possible that this ice age planet was created using the model of the Guardian of Forever planet or of Planet 3. Anyway, the way the globe looks in "Spock's Brain", it is unique in TOS. We can see that much of the northern hemisphere is covered with ice.

Sigma Draconis VI (TOS: "Spock's Brain") In TOS-R the planet retained its partial snow cover. But unlike the original the rest of Sigma Draconis VI is brown (unless TOS showed only the ocean side and TOS-R only the land side).

 

Excalbia

Excalbia is the last new planet created for TOS. We can see the small solidified spot on the magma surface of this highly active planet.

Excalbia (TOS: "The Savage Curtain") Instead of a contiguous surface of molten rock the lava on the TOS-R planet pours out from various big fissures in its crust.

 

Asteroid

The asteroid shots first appeared in "The Paradise Syndrome" and were later re-used for Yonada, only differently colored.

Asteroid (TOS: "The Paradise Syndrome") The new asteroid in TOS-R received a more detailed surface structure and is brownish instead of gray.
Yonada (TOS: "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky") Yonada was given a different look in TOS-R, more realistic because very dull and much darker in the absence of a star.

 

New Planets in TOS-R

As already shown, the Medusan homeworld was dropped altogether and replaced by a starship. The other way round, some planetary bodies previously not seen were created for TOS-R.

Sol system (TOS-R: "Tomorrow is Yesterday", "Assignment Earth") In TOS-R: "Tomorrow is Yesterday" we can see the Sun, Mercury, Moon and Pluto during the Enterprise's slingshot maneuver. In TOS-R: "Assignment Earth" the Moon is visible once more.
Beta VI (TOS-R: "The Squire of Gothos") This Class-M planet is the destination of the Enterprise in TOS-R: "The Squire of Gothos". The planet is a reuse of Sigma Iotia II as seen in the remastered "A Piece of the Action".
Ring planet near Starbase 11 (TOS-R: "Court Martial") The Starbase 11 planet has a ringed sibling visible from space only in TOS-R. The ring planet, however, appeared as early as on the original matte painting of the starbase in TOS: "The Menagerie, Part 1", and was only slightly revised on the new painting.

The opening credits of TOS season 1 show the same brown Planet 1a (Delta Vega). For seasons 2 and 3 it was replaced with a red planet 2e (Vulcan).

TOS-R opening credits In the TOS-R opening credits the camera angles are the same as in the respective TOS seasons. The planets are similar as the ones in TOS. The rocky volcanic season 1 planet with the big cyclone (inspired by the cloud rings of planet 1) as well as the cloudy season 2&3 planet were created especially for the TOS-R credits. They do not show up like this in any episode (although they may share many features with the episode planets).

 

Other Celestial Objects

Galactic Barrier

The barrier naturally looks the same when the Enterprise crosses it in TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and once again in TOS: "By Any Other Name". For the ship inside an anomaly of the Great Barrier in TOS: "Is There in Truth No Beauty?" a new, very colorful effect was created.

Galactic Barrier (TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before") The TOS-R version of the barrier is still pink, albeit less intensive.
Galactic Barrier (TOS: "By Any Other Name") As already in TOS, the barrier's look is consistent in all TOS-R episodes.
Galactic Barrier anomaly (TOS: "Is There in Truth No Beauty?") We can see the ship enter the barrier in the TOS-R version, where it has the same look as in the two other episode showing this phenomenon. The anomaly somewhere inside the barrier (from which the ship is freed only with the help of the Medusan) was redone to be blue instead of colorful.

Stars

Rather than by models, stars were represented by light spots in TOS.

Deneva sun (TOS: "Operation: Annihilate") The TOS-R version resembles the sun as seen is TOS very much, and was only slightly refined.
Minara (TOS: "The Empath") The new Minara still resembles the TOS version, but was given much more activity on its surface.
Beta Niobe (TOS: "All Our Yesterdays") The spectral class of the still "intact" star appears to be the same as in TOS. In TOS-R, when the star goes nova, its color changes to red (see inset).

Various celestial objects

These are the other celestial objects that changed from TOS to TOS-R.

Icarus IV (TOS: "Balance of Terror") In TOS-R the comet was given more detail, and a wider coma with chunks of ice that break away.
Murasaki 312 (TOS: "The Galileo Seven") While the color of the remastered Murasaki 312 is close to the original, it was given the shape of a huge galactic spindle. Interestingly, it was made to look like a real space object called microquasar, so the verbal description of Murasaki as "quasar-like" makes sense. The anomaly also looks much more impressive because it now encompasses the planet in several closer shots.
L-370 debris (TOS: "The Doomsday Machine") The planet debris, which looked rather like ice chunks from a comet in TOS, was modified to generic pieces of rock in TOS-R. We can also see such debris floating around the USS Constellation.

 

See Also

Planet Surfaces in TOS and TOS Remastered - survey of the TOS matte paintings and how they were remastered

Starships in TOS and TOS Remastered - "before & after" comparison of all ships that appeared in the series

 

Credits

Special thanks to Matt Wright who provided most of the preliminary TOS-R screen caps for Trekmovie.com. Many other screen caps are from Trek Caps or from TrekCore. Thanks also to Kevin Kozoriz for pointing us to the microquasars, to G2K for reminding us of the Tycho IV crater and to Ambassador/Ensign_Q for a hint about the sky on Planet Q. The TOS planet model was originally posted by birdofthegalaxy @Flickr.

 

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