Frosty white water ice clouds and swirling orange dust storms above a vivid rusty landscape reveal Mars as a dynamic planet in this sharpest view ever obtained by an Earth-based telescope. The Earth-orbiting Hubble telescope snapped this picture at a time when Mars was approximately 43 million miles (68 million km) from Earth – its closest approach to our planet since 1988. Hubble can see details as small as 10 miles (16 km) across. Especially striking is the large amount of seasonal dust storm activity seen in this image. One large storm system is churning high above the northern polar cap [top of image], and a smaller dust storm cloud can be seen nearby. Another large duststorm is spilling out of the giant Hellas impact basin in the Southern Hemisphere [lower right]. Acknowledgements: J. Bell (Cornell U.), P. James (U. Toledo), M. Wolff (Space Science Institute), A. Lubenow (STScI), J. Neubert (MIT/Cornell)
From roughly the same area where I was two or three weeks ago, this is potentially good news for those who are concerned about the seemingly shaky future of the world’s coral reefs:
This is really quite amazing, and, although it’s not actually related to the item above, I include it here because — rather like me — it connects the ideas of life and being deep:
“I’m willing to bet there’s a decent chance,” says Ohio State University astrophysicist Paul Sutter, “that at least one person you know doesn’t believe that the Earth is curved.”
Really? I mean, I suppose that it’s not impossible. But I would be surprised.
However, I’ve spoken with people who reason (on other subjects) very much in the manner of Sutter’s “flat-earthers.”
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