Your Radiant Smile

Greatest Hits — Craters We Love

Our solar system was built on impacts — some big, some small — some fast, some slow. This week, in honor of a possible newly-discovered large crater here on Earth, here’s a quick run through of some of the more intriguing impacts across our solar system.

1. Mercury: A Basin Bigger Than Texas

Mercury does not have a thick atmosphere to protect it from space debris. The small planet is riddled with craters, but none as spectacular as the Caloris Basin. “Basin” is what geologists call craters larger than about 186 miles (300 kilometers) in diameter. Caloris is about 950 miles (1,525 kilometers) across and is ringed by mile-high mountains.

For scale, the state of Texas is 773 miles (1,244 kilometers) wide from east to west.

2. Venus: Tough on Space Rocks

Venus’ ultra-thick atmosphere finishes off most meteors before they reach the surface. The planet’s volcanic history has erased many of its craters, but like almost any place with solid ground in our solar system, there are still impact scars to be found. Most of what we know of Venus’ craters comes from radar images provided by orbiting spacecraft, such as NASA’s Magellan.

Mead Crater is the largest known impact site on Venus. It is about 170 miles (275 kilometers) in diameter. The relatively-flat, brighter inner floor of the crater indicates it was filled with impact melt and/or lava.

3. Earth: Still Craters After All These Years

Evidence of really big impacts — such as Arizona’s Meteor Crater — are harder to find on Earth. The impact history of our home world has largely been erased by weather and water or buried under lava, rock or ice. Nonetheless, we still find new giant craters occasionally.

A NASA glaciologist has discovered a possible impact crater buried under more than a mile of ice in northwest Greenland.

This follows the finding, announced in November 2018, of a 19-mile (31-kilometer) wide crater beneath Hiawatha Glacier – the first meteorite impact crater ever discovered under Earth’s ice sheets. 

If the second crater, which has a width of over 22 miles (35 kilometers), is ultimately confirmed as the result of a meteorite impact, it will be the 22nd largest impact crater found on Earth.

4. Moon: Our Cratered Companion

Want to imagine what Earth might look like without its protective atmosphere, weather, water and other crater-erasing features? Look up at the Moon. The Moon’s pockmarked face offers what may be humanity’s most familiar view of impact craters.

One of the easiest to spot is Tycho, the tight circle and bright, radiating splat are easy slightly off center on the lower-left side of the full moon. Closer views of the 53-mile (85 kilometer)-wide crater from orbiting spacecraft reveal a beautiful central peak, topped with an intriguing boulder that would fill about half of a typical city block.

5. Mars: Still Taking Hits

Mars has just enough atmosphere to ensure nail-biting spacecraft landings, but not enough to prevent regular hits from falling space rocks. This dark splat on the Martian south pole is less than a year old, having formed between July and September 2018. The two-toned blast pattern tells a geologic story. The larger, lighter-colored blast pattern could be the result of scouring by winds from the impact shockwave on ice. The darker-colored inner blast pattern is because the impactor penetrated the thin ice layer, blasting the dark sand underneath in all directions.

6. Ceres: What Lies Beneath

The bright spots in Ceres’ Occator crater intrigued the world from the moment the approaching Dawn spacecraft first photographed it in 2015. Closer inspection from orbit revealed the spots to be the most visible example of hundreds of bright, salty deposits that decorate the dwarf planet like a smattering of diamonds. The science behind these bright spots is even more compelling: they are mainly sodium carbonate and ammonium chloride that somehow made their way to the surface in a slushy brine from within or below the crust. Thanks to Dawn, scientists have a better sense of how these reflective areas formed and changed over time — processes indicative of an active, evolving world.

7. Comet Tempel 1: We Did It!

Scientists have long known we can learn a lot from impact craters — so, in 2005, they made one themselves and watched it happen.

On July 4, 2005, NASA’s Deep Impact spacecraft trained its instruments on an 816-pound (370-kilogram) copper impactor as it smashed into comet Tempel 1.

One of the more surprising findings: The comet has a loose, “fluffy” structure, held together by gravity and contains a surprising amount of organic compounds that are part of the basic building blocks of life.

8. Mimas: May the 4th Be With You

Few Star Wars fans — us included — can resist Obi Wan Kenobi’s memorable line “That’s no moon…” when images of Saturn’s moon Mimas pop up on a screen. Despite its Death Star-like appearance, Mimas is most definitely a moon. Our Cassini spacecraft checked, a lot — and the superlaser-looking depression is simply an 81-mile (130-kilometer) wide crater named for the moon’s discoverer, William Herschel.

9. Europa: Say What?

The Welsh name of this crater on Jupiter’s ocean moon Europa looks like a tongue-twister, but it is easiest pronounced as “pool.” Pwyll is thought to be one of the youngest features we know of on Europa. The bright splat from the impact extends more than 600 miles (about 1,000 kilometers) around the crater, a fresh blanket over rugged, older terrain. “Fresh,” or young, is a relative term in geology; the crater and its rays are likely millions of years old.

10. Show Us Your Greatest Hits

Got a passion for Stickney, the dominant bowl-shaped crater on one end of Mars’ moon Phobos? Or a fondness for the sponge-like abundance of impacts on Saturn’s battered moon Hyperion (pictured)? There are countless craters to choose from. Share your favorites with us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

BNHA - Space (symbolism) Edition

So @saisai-chan and I were talking about awesome space stuff and it bled into talking about BNHA, which led to this - BNHA characters as symbolic celestial *SPACE* objects. We’re just… Really enthusiastic about space…..

All Might - Sun. Center of everything, provides life/energy to the solar system, largest celestial body in solar system. (All Might’s influence.) Also protects the solar system from objects from outside the system. (Again, his influence, symbol of peace, number one hero)

Midoriya Izuku - Earth. Has life on the planet, the only planet bestowed with life thanks to the sun. (KINDA LIKE… ONE FOR ALL)

Bakugou Katsuki - Venus. Zero chill, greenhouse effect, VOLCANOES EVERYWHERE (which contributes to erosion and therefore makes the surface very “new” - lowkey nod to Mama Bakugou’s quirk glycerin, making her eternally youthful), atmosphere that burns up pretty much everything before it can actually hit Venus’ surface (kinda like how Bakugou doesn’t really get close to people that much; they are often repelled/intimidated by his attitude). Secondary Atmosphere is almost entirely CO2 - because its temperatures are so high, water could never condense and bring CO2 to the crust. Venus never underwent the change that Earth and Mars had, remaining as it did with greenhouse effect => high temperatures; it never cooled off. (Bakugou is stubborn, change is very slow, still hot-headed with zero-chill af)

Uraraka Ochako - Saturn. Lots of gravity, really pretty to look at, can float on water (average density is less than water).

Todoroki Shouto - Mars. Cold and Red, Mars had a secondary atmosphere like Earth’s at one point - lost Primary Atmosphere like all the terrestrials, gained a secondary like Earth’s (caused by water condensing and falling to the crust, bringing CO2 with it). Suspected to have been substantially warmer earlier on in its life. As its core continues to cool, the planet itself cools.

Kaminari Denki - Uranus. Only planet that’s tilted on its side (he’s a dork), looks plain and boring but actually isn’t. (Kaminari seems like a joke character at first but hey! He has a personality too, has friends, cares about them, will defend them. He’s more complex than he looks, even though it isn’t much) Also, storm planet. (Electricity, lightning. Fire + wind, Bakugou and Kaminari)

Kirishima Eijirou - Neptune. Water planet, a pair with Uranus. (Kinda like a complimentary opposite of venus - water + lava (from venus) makes land, land = life (Bakugou, Kirishima, and Kaminari), goes from Raging Inferno to HOPE.)

Tokoyami Fumikage - Pluto probably. Because it’s the edgiest celestial body in our solar system, furthest from the sun (darkness aesthetic). Has a giant heart-shaped mark on its surface. (He’s a dork and not nearly as cool and edgy as he thinks.)

Todoroki Enji - Jupiter. Second largest object in the solar system, right behind mars, separated by asteroid belt. Extreme pressure (expectations on others/daunting presence) and multiple natural satellites (his own following, influence in the world). Big Red Spot. Jupiter’s coriolis effect/numerous wind cells (this guy has some inner conflicts and issues, man). Protects the Earth and inner planets but also kinda directs some asteroids towards us.

Todoroki’s Mom - Frost Line. (FROST. ICE QUIRK.) Located in the Asteroid Belt, not an actual object (we’ve only seen her, like, twice? She is Elusive), but a distance from the sun, separation between the terrestrials and Jovians. SEPARATES MARS FROM JUPITER. (she tried to protect Todoroki from Enji before)

Midoriya Inko - Ceres. Dwarf Planet, named after goddess of fertility and motherhood. (kind of out there away from the focal point; a little forgotten sometimes but also not)

Izumi Kouta - Moon. Created literally after a celestial object collided with earth. (“sorry I punched you in the dick”) Controls the tides (Kouta controls water)

Shigaraki Tomura - Mercury. Fully-formed planet before, but as it died, it’s liquid core shrank - causing wrinkles on its surface as the crust collapsed on itself. Dead, metal, and flakey. (His wrinkles. He could have had a bright future, but it died.) BUT ALSO NOT AS DEAD AS WE THOUGHT. Literally a recent finding. (Still has surprises for us, he is still a Mystery)

AfO - Black Hole. (Maybe his brother = a smaller star that turned into a white dwarf, while he = a black hole.) Giant black hole at the center of the Milky Way. (headcanon, but AfO is integrated in society in various ways without the government/hero associations knowing. He is old and influential, is a massive force. Like a black hole at the center of the galaxy)

Villains/League of Villains - Oort Cloud. Cluster of debris that surrounds the solar system; is kept at the far reaches of it. (Villains are the rejects of society, they try to stay as far away from All Might as possible)

Other students in Yuuei - Asteroid Belt.

Yuuei/Japan - Solar System. (has all of this stuff)

EXCERPT FROM CHAT (b/c I think it’s funny):

saisai-chan: YE AH i imagine the solar system is like either UA or japan specifically since AFO is the giant black hole at the center of the galaxy athanatosora: And honestly, AfO at the center - I have seen and have too many headcanons that he is integrated in society in various ways without the heroes knowing. He is too old and influential to not be saisai-chan: so he has influence all around athanatosora: YEAH saisai-chan: YEAH

It’s Murder time at college so everything’s chaos

Cute little music box playing “Clair de Lune” 🌙⭐

I love really tiny text and intricate diagrams 🤚🏼👁

Myths, Creatures, and Folklore

Want to create a religion for your fictional world? Here are some references and resources!

General:

General Folklore

Various Folktales

Heroes

Weather Folklore

Trees in Mythology

Animals in Mythology

Birds in Mythology

Flowers in Mythology

Fruit in Mythology

Plants in Mythology

Folktales from Around the World

Africa:

Egyptian Mythology

African Mythology

More African Mythology

Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

The Gods of Africa

Even More African Mythology

West African Mythology

All About African Mythology

African Mythical Creatures

Gods and Goddesses

The Americas:

Aztec Mythology

Haitian Mythology

Inca Mythology

Maya Mythology

Native American Mythology

More Inca Mythology

More Native American Mythology

South American Mythical Creatures

North American Mythical Creatures

Aztec Gods and Goddesses

Asia:

Chinese Mythology

Hindu Mythology

Japanese Mythology

Korean Mythology

More Japanese Mythology

Chinese and Japanese Mythical Creatures

Indian Mythical Creatures

Chinese Gods and Goddesses

Hindu Gods and Goddesses

Korean Gods and Goddesses

Europe:

Basque Mythology

Celtic Mythology

Etruscan Mythology

Greek Mythology

Latvian Mythology

Norse Mythology

Roman Mythology

Arthurian Legends

Bestiary

Celtic Gods and Goddesses

Gods and Goddesses of the Celtic Lands

Finnish Mythology

Celtic Mythical Creatures

Gods and Goddesses

Middle East:

Islamic Mythology

Judaic Mythology

Mesopotamian Mythology

Persian Mythology

Middle Eastern Mythical Creatures

Oceania:

Aboriginal Mythology

Polynesian Mythology

More Polynesian Mythology

Mythology of the Polynesian Islands

Melanesian Mythology

Massive Polynesian Mythology Post

Maori Mythical Creatures

Hawaiian Gods and Goddesses

Hawaiian Goddesses

Gods and Goddesses

Creating a Fantasy Religion:

Creating Part 1

Creating Part 2

Creating Part 3

Creating Part 4

Fantasy Religion Design Guide

Using Religion in Fantasy

Religion in Fantasy

Creating Fantasy Worlds

Beliefs in Fantasy

Some superstitions:

Read More

witches weeds - jimsonweed datura stramonium, hemlock conium maculatum, enchanter’s nightshade circaea lutetiana, deadly nightshade atropa belladona, henbane hyoscyamus niger, moonflower datura innoxia, wolsfbane aconitum napellus

i’ve come across the concept of witches weeds a few times in my botanical wanderings, above are a few of my favorites. a word of warning - every plant above except for enchanter’s nightshade are poisonous plants. please do not go foraging for these plants, some of them can even create symptoms just by touching or breathing in near the plant. 

instagram / twitter

Suite Bergamasque, CD 82 ; L.75 - IV. Passepied (Orchestral)

By Composer Claude Debussy

Performed By The San Francisco Ballet Orchestra

Claude Debussy with Erik Satie, in the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne, Paris (Debussy’s home) in 1910.

same tbh.

this is one of those extraordinary exercises in which you see what you hear, and you hear what you see

an everlasting masterpiece