Solar System

Generically, any star and planetary system. More specifically, ours. Also known as the Sol System, Sector 001, etc.

Sol (the Sun)

• Mercury
• Venus
• Terra/Luna (Earth/Moon)
• Mars
• Asteroid Belt
• Jupiter
• Saturn
• Uranus
• Neptune
• Kuiper Belt (trans-Neptunian)
  • Pluto/Charon
  • Orcus
  • Quaoar
  • Sedna
  • 2003 EL61
  • 2003 UB313
• Oort Cloud

See also

• nineplanets.org
• Wikipedia: Solar system
• Plot of the Outer Solar System

As if needing to deal decisively with the Green Martians weren't enough of a reason to go back, scientist Joel Levine shows us why it's important to return to the Red Planet...this time, in an airplane. That'll show 'em! ;)

At TEDxNASA, planetary scientist Joel Levine shows some intriguing -- and puzzling -- new discoveries about Mars: craters full of ice, traces of ancient oceans, and compelling hints at the presence, sometime in the past, of life. He makes the case for going back to Mars to find out more.

Celebrating my 40th birthday this week, I decided to check out what was going on in the world in January 1969.

January 5th and 10th - USSR launches Venera 5 and Venera 6 to Venus.

January 12th - NY Jets beat the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III.

Also on the 12th, Led Zeppelin I is unleashed by the gods upon the world.

January 14th - onboard the USS Enterprise 27 were killed and 314 were injured in a tragic incident:

In the morning of 14 January 1969, a MK-32 Zuni rocket warhead attached to an F-4 Phantom was overheated by exhaust from an aircraft starting unit and detonated, setting off fires and additional explosions across the carrier. More at Wikipedia.

January 15th - the Russians continue their busy month in space by sending up Soyuz 5. (The Americans would trump all this in July, of course.)

January 20th - Nixon takes office. Ooof.

January 30th - The last public performance of The Beatles, on top of the Apple Records building.

See Wikipedia: January 1969.

(See also my "1969 Dodgers" retrospective at Trolley Dodger.)

UPDATE: From the January 13 Wikipedia mailing list email:

1842:

When he reached the safety of a garrison in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, William Brydon, an assistant surgeon in the British Army during the First Anglo-Afghan War, became the sole European survivor of a party of over 4,500 military personnel and over 10,000 civilian camp followers retreating from Kabul, excluding a few prisoners released later. read more

1898:

The Paris newspaper L'Aurore published "J'accuse...!", an open letter by French writer Émile Zola to French President Félix Faure exposing the Dreyfus affair. read more

1968:

American singer Johnny Cash recorded his landmark album At Folsom Prison live at Folsom State Prison in Folsom, California. read more

1986:

A month-long violent struggle began in Aden, South Yemen between supporters of President Ali Nasir Muhammad and his predecessor Abdul Fattah Ismail, resulting in thousands of casualties. read more

1991:

The January Events: Soviet troops attacked Lithuanian independence supporters at the TV Tower in Vilnius, killing 14 people. read more

National Geographic's recent Space Issue ("Travel the solar system, follow the development of space exploration, and hear about the photographs...") that I just now came across has a moving foreword by none other than Martian author Ray Bradbury, entitled "My Mars".

Along the way to growing up, I read Edgar Rice Burroughs and loved his Martian books, and followed the instructions of his Mars pioneer John Carter, who told me, when I was 12, that it was simple: If I wanted to follow the avenue of Lowell and go to the stars, I needed to go out on the summer night lawn, lift my arms, stare at the planet Mars, and say, "Take me home."

That was the day that Mars took me home—and I never really came back. I began writing on a toy typewriter. I couldn't afford to buy all the Martian books I wanted, so I wrote the sequels myself.

Read "My Mars"...

This is a pretty spiffy day.

• The Phoenix landed safely and is already sending back amazing photos.
• Clayton Kershaw had his major league debut for the Dodgers, and while he didn't get the win, he acquitted himself quite well, and the Dodgers wound up winning in the 10th inning off of Andre Ethier's first career walkoff hit. Luis Maza also hit his first career homerun.
• This is Towel Day, honoring Douglas Adams, the hoopiest frood ever.
• It is the one-year anniversary of my epic Star Wars Day marathon.
• It also marks the beginning of a one-year countdown to the even-more-epic Alien vs Predator Saga movie marathon in 2009.

It looks like the Phoenix lander has touched down on Mars!

Radio signals received at 4:53 p.m. Pacific Time confirmed that the Phoenix Mars Lander had survived its difficult final descent and touchdown 15 minutes earlier. In the intervening time, those signals crossed the distance from Mars to Earth at the speed of light.

Congratulations to NASA and the Phoenix team!

(As I appropriately post this from MarsEdit ;)

Paul Rincon, BBC science reporter, has been busy in Houston at the 2007 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC).

Yesterday he posted a story about what appears to be a 5.5-km wide, newly discovered space impact crater under the Central Valley in California.

Data from a 3D seismic survey of an ancient sea bed clearly shows a circular structure buried 1,490-1,600m (4,890-4,250ft) below sea level.

The Victoria Island structure, as it has been named, has a concentric rim surrounding a "central uplift" - a peak at the centre - which are both characteristic of impact craters.

Today, Rincon had another story from the conference about some possible caves found on Mars by NASA's Odyssey spacecraft.

The candidate caves are on the flanks of the Arsia Mons volcano and are of sufficient depth their floors mostly cannot be seen through the opening.

What's most interesting is the potential for these providing a haven for life.

The caves may be the only natural structures capable of protecting primitive life forms from micrometeoroids, UV radiation, solar flares and high energy particles that bombard the planet's surface.

Sounds like a cool conference. :)