Solar System Landmarks Part 1

I thought for my first article, I'd keep it simple and fun. In this article, I will disucss a couple of the 'landmarks' of the solar system. A lankmark would be something wierd or amazing found on some of the planets or moons, such as Jupiter's Big Red Spot or Saturn's Rings. Something that stands out as being unique. There are so many that'd I'd figure to call this part 1 because I'm sure I won't get to them all this time. And these are in no particular order.

Landmark #1: Grand Canyon of Mars

This canyon is so long that if compared to Earth it would run from Maine to California. It was not formed by water like the Grand Canyon in Arizona. It was formed by geological faulting, which means the subsoil underneath collapsed. It's name is really the Valles Marineris, translated means Mariner Valley. It is over 20,000 feet deep and 120 miles wide.

Landmark #2: Triton's Geysers

Triton, the biggest moon around Neptune, sports some of the best geysers in the solar system. For years, Astronomers noticed dark lines across Triton. When Voyager 2 flew by, it was discovered that these lines were actually geysers. The geysers shoot nitrogen into the air up to 10 miles into the air and the wind on Triton then carries the it across the sky, forming these lines.

Landmark #3: Io's Surface

Someone once descibed Io's surface as looking like a pizza. Io's surface is covered with volcanoes. However, these volcanoes are not due to the core. Io's volcanoes are a result of the tidal forces from Jupitar. The tridal forces from Jupiter cause such a stress on Io, that the surface just cracks and breaks and the molten sulfer underneath of the crust explodes into the sky. Some eruptions are so severe that portions of the sulfer is shot into space. Over the years, this has left a sulfer ring around Jupiter.

Landmark #4: Mimas' crater

Mimas is a small moon of Saturn. Mimas is 300 miles in diameter and has a crater named Hershal that is 65 miles in diameter. If the object that slammed into Mimas had been any larger, the moon would have been destroyed.

Lankmark #5: Earth's Solar Eclipse

Ok, this really isn't a landmark but an event. However, since this event is only visible from Earth (and Pluto), I decided to add it. Earth is the only planet other than Pluto that experiences a total eclipse of the sun. Other planets have partial ecplises, in that the moon will only cover a portion of the sun but never all of it because it is too small or too far away. It is unique to Earth and Pluto. The Moon is just the right distance from the Earth that when it eclipses the sun, it allows us to see the Sun's corona.

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