Age Of Destruction

streak: Star trails and Saturn’s E Ring, overexposed by Cassini, 31st October 2009.

In search of Methone. 

Image credit: NASA/JPL/SSI.

homeworld: Titan, photographed by Cassini, 29th January 2007.

Image credit: NASA/JPL/SSI.

postcards: Surface of Mars, photographed by Curiosity, sols 182-232.

(10th February - 1st April 2013.)

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Animation: AgeOfDestruction.

hunter: Surface of the Moon, photographed from Apollo 15, 2nd August 1971.

Around 25°S 120°E. Zhiritskiy Crater is at center left, overlapping the more central crater. Part of Neujmin is visible at right, and a tiny bit of Schaeberle peeps in at bottom left. Named, respectively, for rocket scientist Georgiy Sergeevich Zhiritskiy, 1893-1966; astronomer Grigory Nikolayevich Neujmin, 1886-1946; astronomer John Martin Schaeberle, 1853-1924.

Image credit: NASA/JSC, c/o LPI.

chaos: Surface of Mars, photographed by Mars Express, 30th August 2005.

Around 10°S 319°E, where the Valles Marineris flow out into Aurorae Chaos. Detail of a larger image [h2090_0000].

Image credit: ESA.

migraine: Surface of Mercury, photographed by MESSENGER, 29th October 2011.

Around 69°N 310°W, north-east of Egonu Crater. 

Image credit: NASA/APL/CIW. Composite: AgeOfDestruction.

signature: Saturn’s F Ring, perturbed by the moon Prometheus, photographed by Cassini, 30th August 2008.

More of the F Ring. More of Prometheus.

Image credit: NASA/JPL/SSI.

dangerous mood: Jupiter, photographed by Voyager 1, 27th February 1979.

Nominally a photograph of the moon Thebe; good luck finding it. 

Image credit: NASA/JPL.

victorious: Surface of Mars, photographed by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, 13th September 2008.

Break in the eastern wall of Al-Qahira Vallis at 18S 163E. Al-Qahira is a 600km outflow channel connecting the southern highlands of Terra Cimmeria and the lowlands of Elysium Planitia.

Although the vallis is apparently named for the Arabic word for Mars, al-qahira also seems to be translated* as “the victorious” and is used in that sense as a name for the city of Cairo.

Image credit: NASA/JPL/UoA.

* It occurs to me that two different Arabic words may be being transliterated as the same one; I’d be very interested to hear from anyone who can clear that up.

diamonds coming down: Saturn and stars, photographed by Cassini, 26th June 2010.

Pappubahry has interpreted this kind of image as the stars emerging from behind Saturn (top left section of the image). Here, successive images in a sequence are superimposed, showing each star as a trail. Where a star emerges from behind Saturn (particularly at far left and far right), note how the light is at first dimmed and refracted by Saturn’s atmosphere.

 Image credit: NASA/JPL/SSI. Animation: AgeOfDestruction.