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I remember reading a sci-fi story where astronauts visit a planet, which is covered in stationary aliens with mile long necks that filter feed from the atmosphere.

It was published between 1960 and 2000.

It was in English and involved a pair of astronauts that went from planet to planet on a tour or something, though I don't know details of any other planets they visited.

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  • This question would be improved by going through the checklists here; How to ask a good story-ID question?
    – Valorum
    Commented Nov 7, 2018 at 17:56
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    I'm getting a mental image similar to the cover art for Blue Oyster Cult's album Cultosaurus Erectus...
    – Zeiss Ikon
    Commented Nov 7, 2018 at 18:18
  • @ZeissIkon that actually looks almost exactly like how the aliens are described in the novel
    – qazwsx
    Commented Nov 7, 2018 at 18:25
  • Any idea what length story (short, novella, novel), where published? In English?
    – Zeiss Ikon
    Commented Nov 7, 2018 at 19:27
  • @ZeissIkon It was not a short story.
    – qazwsx
    Commented Nov 7, 2018 at 21:05

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This is "A Tour Of The Universe" by Robert Holdstock and Malcolm Edwards. It is a book of science fiction art strung together by a story of a tourist couple who won a tour of the universe from some interstellar cruise line.

Here's a picture from the book of those long necked filter-feeding aliens you mentioned.

filter feeding alien

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    Interesting. So that part of the story was written around Richard Clifton-Dey's painting. I wonder whether the artwork was first intended for this book or for the cover of the Blue Oyster Cult album Cultösaurus Erectus? (Both came out in 1980.)
    – Buzz
    Commented Nov 8, 2018 at 7:44
  • I vaguely remember that book. The rest of the art might also have been by Clifton-Dey. If so, the approximately simultaneous appearance on the album was probably a coincidence.
    – Zeiss Ikon
    Commented Nov 8, 2018 at 12:16

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