Galle (Martian crater): Difference between revisions
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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* [[Cydonia_Mensae#.22Face_on_Mars.22|"The Face on Mars"]] |
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* [[Galle (lunar crater)]] |
* [[Galle (lunar crater)]] |
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Revision as of 20:26, 5 May 2011
Galle is a crater on Mars. It is located on the eastern rim of the huge impact basin Argyre Planitia. It is named after the astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle.
Galle is often known as the "happy face crater" because the illusion of a smiley is created by a semicircular mountain range and two smaller craters within the main crater. The formation was first photographed by Viking Orbiter 1.
As the smiley is a key motif in the comic book Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, the crater was used as a story location after the coincidence was noted by Gibbons. According to Gibbons, the similarity "was almost too good to be true. I worried that if we put it in, people would never believe it."[1] The actual crater was visualized in the 2009 film adaptation of Watchmen.
A second "happy face crater", smaller than Galle and located at 45.1°S, 55.0°W in Nereidum Montes, was discovered by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on January 28, 2008.[2]
See also
References
- ^ Web Behrens (February 27, 2009). "'Watchmen': Your guide to watching the big screen adaptation of the comic book". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ Have a happy day on Mars , The Planetary Society Blog, Feb. 1, 2008
External links
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