I just saw a bit of a craptacular sci-fi movie on tv the other night, involving the peril Earth faces after the moon is struck by—get this—a brown dwarf!! That premise and everything that follows deserves Phil’s famous “The stupid, it burns!!” award.

I’m pretty sure I recall the BA blogging on that here too – incl. giving it the “teh stoopid it burns” signs. Maybe even a few posts on it.

Every time I look at a picture of a crater, it at first looks not like a depression lit from one direction, but like a BUMP lit from the opposite direction. I have to stare and stare and stare in hope that the picture will “pop in” and look like the dent in the surface it really is.

It took me 15 minutes to see that picture of Victoria Crater as a CRATER instead of a raised area of the landscape. And then after it finally popped into view, I lost it again.

I swear, I need 3-D glasses for these things.

But all I could think while looking at the photos was how desperately much I’d like to walk across one of those landscapes. Seeing Opportunities tracks in the sand in that one photo? That didn’t ruin the landscape, it connected me. Gave me a sense that I/we in one small way have been there. Amazing stuff.

Hey, the comment numbers got changed around! So, I need to adjust my #17 comment to the adjusted numbers, in which case, my @12 reference should read “@15″, although, I imagine anyone paying attention would have figured that out without my little explanation here. There are some pretty bright BABlogees here!

@ 23 (unless the numbers change again):
2) never shining directly by nuclear fusing thus not a star or brown dwarf

I just saw a bit of a craptacular sci-fi movie on tv the other night, involving the peril Earth faces after the moon is struck by—get this—a brown dwarf!! That premise and everything that follows deserves Phil’s famous “The stupid, it burns!!” award.

Sorry, also off-topic, but I had to say it.

Not only have I spotted Jesus, Elvis, and God, I think I see four of the Seven Dwarfs.

@Flying sardines Mercury is the smallest terrestrial planet.

D’oh! Of course it is! Mea culpa, I forgot all about Mercury. What a brainfade. I meant Mars is the second smallest. After Mercury and not counting Eris, Pluto, Makemake, Haumea, Sedna and Ceres. (Which BTW. are all arguably “planets” by the saner non-IAU definition.*)

Unless the IAU has just decided to kick Mercury off the planets list now too?

Or unless the Sun’s transition to orange giant (swelling out large enough to devour Mercury and extend halfway to Venus) has taken place wa-aay ahead of schedule! Yikes!

_______________

* This saner non-IAU definition being simply that a “planet” is

1) rounded through its own gravity thus not an asteroid or comet,
2) never shining directly by nuclear fusing thus not a star or brown dwarf
&
3) not directly orbiting another planet thus not a moon.

Off topic & all but just thought I’d mention it.

The texture DOES look remarkably like skin with goose bumps and the dark areas COULD be ink.

OMG! PHIL is a MARTIAN!!!

Great pics.

GAry 7

Do you know of any posters that have been made illustrating where all these are on Mars? I may just make one myself (yay Photoshop!). I saw they had the Google Mars links but those weren’t terribly helpful. Hmm.

Semi-seriously—the NASA/MRO/HiRISE people should hook up w/ some puzzle makers and sell jigsaw puzzles of these images (as a non-profit venture, of course). They’d make for some fantastic brain-exploding puzzles, as well as get kids (and grown-ups!!!) even more interested & excited about Mars and science.

Number six (m06_73382640.jpg). Wow does that look a rich chocolate cake. I hope it comes with coffee.

Number eleven (m11_02211420.jpg). I am imagining this as a jigsaw puzzle because I am evil.

Number sixteen (m16_31130940.jpg). No silly remarks; just a great picture.

Number twenty-three (m23_40782015.jpg). Also a great picture, though not as “uniquely Martian”.

Number twenty-four (m24_71932640.jpg). More chocolate. Turns out mars bars really are what they say they are.

Number thirty-five (m35_35381230.jpg). Finally, the proof you’ve been lying to us. Of course there are trees on Mars; we can see the shadow of their branches.

Hmmm. Terrain is an Earth word, right? Marain perhaps?)

Not really, *terrain* is for all terrain everywhere even here on Pluto. Terrain applies to ground or surface & usually has a descriptive term preceding it eg. the terrain is flat, undulating, mountainous, swampy, urban, forest, tundra, icefield, volcanic, etc ..

The word you may be thinking of here is *Terran* which means Earth or land or ground. (eg. Terra firma, Terra Australis (old name for Oz), subterrean etc ..) Not sure exactly how these words are related (Latin cognates or something from the same root? Certainly sound similar.) but there is a key difference in their meaning. Science Fiction often uses ‘Terra’ for Earth and ‘Terran’ for Earthlings / Earthicans. (Not ‘Futurama’ though, well spluh! )

You’ll find no terra or terrans (yet!) on Mars but there’s terrain aplenty! Incidentally, I agree its great to see the variety in Martian terrains there. Of course, its all cold desert … For now.

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* Keith is one of the First Ones? As in the most ancient immortal aliens from ‘Babylon 5′?
A-w-e-s-o-m-e! What were the Shadows and Vorlons like when they were young? Ever meet Lorien? (Yes we get ‘Babylon-5′ out on Pluto! )

(Hmmm. Terrain is an Earth word, right? Marain perhaps?)

Look at picture 12. It clearly shows a large Martian road running down the left hand side of the picture, and a large castle-like structure in the centre. NASA have clearly airbrushed out all the little Martian trucks on the highway.

It’s there if you *want* to see it, people!

(BTW, in case anyone is even slightly wondering, no, I’m not *really* Richard Hoagland. That was a joke… ;o) )