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Barsoom
| Title |
Barsoom |
| Explanation |
Yes, I have been to Barsoom again ..." begins John Carter in Edgar Rice Burroughs' 1913 science fiction classic "The Gods of Mars" [ http://www.literature.org/Works/Edgar-Rice-Burroughs/gods-of-mars/ ]. In Burroughs' novels describing Carter's adventures on Mars, "Barsoom" is the local inhabitants' name [ http://humbabe.arc.nasa.gov/mgcm/fun/pop.html ] for the Red Planet. Long after Burroughs' stories were published, Mars continues [ http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4212/on-mars.html ] to inspire Earthdweller [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/mars/mars_crew.html ]s' interests [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970627.html ] and imagination [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970528.html ]. Soon it will again be invaded by spacecraft from Earth [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov ]. This dramatic picture of a crescent Mars was taken by NASA's Viking 2 [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/ database/www-nmc?75-083A ] spacecraft as it approached [ http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/files/images/captions/ p17442.txt ] Barsoom in 1976. |
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Diamond Ring in the Sun
| Title |
Diamond Ring in the Sun |
| Explanation |
Today, earthbound skygazers can celebrate a solstice [ http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Sseason.htm ], a new Moon [ http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/moon_phases.html ], the closest approach [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] of planet Mars since 1988 ... oh yes, and a total eclipse of the Sun, the first total solar eclipse [ http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/TSE2001/TSE2001.html ] of the third millennium. Of course for some, today's most spectacular celestial views will be of the eclipsed Sun [ http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast19jun_1.htm ] from along the path of totality as the new Moon's shadow tracks across southern Africa and Madagascar [ http://www.madagascar-eclipse2001.com/eclipse_.htm ]. This picture from the August 1999 total solar eclipse captures the shimmering solar corona just as that eclipse's total phase ended, as seen from eastern Turkey. The first rays of bright sunlight shinning through edge-on [ http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/TSE2001/TSE2001fig/ TSE2001fig08.GIF ] lunar mountains and valleys create the fleeting appearance of glistening diamonds set in a ring around the Moon's silhouette. Do you want to see today's solar eclipse? Eclipse expeditions are offering live webcasts [ http://www.bit-net.com/~pauer/eclipse01/ ]. |
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Water-Ice Imaged in Martian
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| Title |
Water-Ice Imaged in Martian Polar Cap |
| Explanation |
Does water exist today on Mars? Yes, although the only place on Mars [ http://www.nineplanets.org/mars.html ] known to have water [ http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast05jan_1.htm ] is the North Polar Cap [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap981216.html ], and that water [ http://www.nyu.edu/pages/mathmol/modules/water/info_water.html ] is frozen. Views of this potentially life-enabling water-ice are usually obscured [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap011017.html ] -- in the winter by darkness and in the summer by clouds [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010417.html ]. Last April, however, the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/marsurv.html ] was able to get a good glimpse of the water-bearing cap [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980924.html ] just before Martian spring. Low, dark layers in the above image [ http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/1yearExtend/npolar/index.html ] are thought to contain a large amount of sand [ http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0704b.htm ], while high, light layers likely contain higher amounts of water-ice [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010629.html ]. The image spans an area about 5 kilometers across. |
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Barsoom
| Title |
Barsoom |
| Explanation |
Yes, I have been to Barsoom again ..." begins John Carter in Edgar Rice Burroughs' 1913 science fiction classic "The Gods of Mars" [ http://www.literature.org/Works/Edgar-Rice-Burroughs/gods-of-mars/ ]. In Burroughs' novels describing Carter's adventures on Mars, "Barsoom" is the local inhabitants' name [ http://humbabe.arc.nasa.gov/mgcm/fun/pop.html ] for the Red Planet. Long after Burroughs' stories were published, Mars continues [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] to inspire Earthdweller [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/mars/mars_crew.html ]s' interests [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970627.html ] and imagination [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970528.html ]. Soon it will again be invaded by spacecraft from Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990108.html ]. This dramatic picture of a crescent Mars was taken by NASA's Viking 2 [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/database/www-nmc?75-083A ] spacecraft in 1976. |
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