WARRIOR ANGEL

photography by Adam Kyle Jackson powerful nature

The eight planets of our solar system (and the dwarf planet Pluto) image credits: [x] / NASA

:)

Apollo art by Erich Fuchs, Robert McCall, Davis Meltzer, and Alan Bean.

500,000 Suns by Paul Blake

Venus has LOCKED tectonic plates??? How does that work? How are they even counted as individual plates if it’s the tectonic equivalent of Pangea?

it's not so much that Venus's tectonic plates are locked, it's more that it never had them in the first place!

which is a major surprise, actually, because Venus is the most Earth-like of the other planets in our solar system.

surprise?

"what," you may say, flailing in consternation, "about Mars?? why are we trying to colonize Mars if Venus is more Earth-like???"

and it's a good question! Venus IS technically more Earth-like in the sense that it's right next door, is a solid 80% the size of Earth, and has both a working atmosphere and a liquid mantle composed of molten rock, BUT- it's also important to note that Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system and it rains boiling sulfuric acid at almost all times! our first probes to the damn place actually melted. MELTED.

this is what Hell looks like.

BUT ANYWAY so Venus is the planet in our solar system that's the MOST physically similar to Earth, our dear mother who does not rain boiling sulfuric acid on our heads hardly at all ever, so it's kind of a shock that its geology is COMPLETELY FUCKING DIFFERENT.

see, Earth's outer crust is broken up into a series of mind-breakingly-massive tectonic plates that sort of skid around on top of the liquid mantle, slowly drifting in different directions driven by Earth's rotation and bonking into each other randomly like a 300-million-year-long Pinball tournament!

but on Venus, the entire outer crust is a single solid piece sitting on top of the liquid mantle, like the peel of an orange.

though not as good for you. because of the whole Boiling Acid thing.

and contrary to what you might think, this actually makes Venus a VERY VIOLENT place! the outer crust twists and deforms slightly as the liquid mantle spins under it, like a water balloon being flung repeatedly against a wall by a small child, but all of that force can't really be dispersed because the crust is a single solid piece of rigid rock!

so what happens is that this force builds and builds and BUILDS until Venus can't take the strain anymore and has a very volcanic tantrum about it.

unlike the rest of the solar system, the surface of Venus is made of relatively new and entirely volcanic rock- because the entire planet is basically having a planet-wide eruption event at all times, with multiple huge volcanos just spewing gigantic amounts of liquid rock everywhere like it's their damn job, to the point where Venus is just getting resurfaced like a McDonalds parking lot every epoch or so.

aren't you glad Earth doesn't do this? I am SO glad Earth doesn't do this.

(much, anyway)

uh anyway that's why we're trying to colonize Mars instead, and why plate tectonics are a GOOD thing! thanks for coming to my TED talk bye

As the Fog Rolls In

Although we talk about fog rolling in, it’s rare for us to have a perspective where we can truly appreciate that flow. But this photograph from Tanmay Sapkal provides just that for the low summer fogs sweeping over Marin, CA. (Image credit: T. Sapkal; via NatGeo) Read the full article

the saline water from your mouth | © víctor m. alonso

"Give me the essence of your nights,

give me the saline water from your mouth,"

"Dame la esencia de tus noches,

dame el agua salina de tu boca,"

[© víctor m. alonso | from the poem 'amor']

tag yourself: the solar system

mercury: the leader, athletic, friendly, summer vibes, always making plans for the group, organized, impatient, wine lover, reads in their free time

venus: the pretty friend, instagram famous, watches cartoons, very kind, loves skirts and dresses, smart, horrible at money management

earth: the young friend, wears flower crowns, fashionable, probably short as heck, clumsy, lovable, kind of sad inside, idolizes their friends

mars: the mysterious friend, reads comic books, prefers summer over winter, messy hair, lipstick stains on every cup, gardens

jupiter: the mom/dad friend, protective, always drinking but never hungover, loves the outdoors, very patient, has a bad temper if you cross them, collects something

saturn: the powerful friend, will be president someday probably, you want to raid their wardrobe, always has good advice, bad at cooking, loves movies

uranus: the quiet friend, kind of introverted, always laughing, tags you in memes all the time, lurks in the group chat but never responds, dog lover

neptune: the aesthetic friend, doesn’t care what people think, loves art, owns 395754 pairs of jeans, reckless driver, always want to go somewhere

pluto: the smol friend, always busy, loves their friends (will fight for their friends), boy/girl crazy, bottles up their feelings, can never make up their mind, huge smile

Hurricane Florence

Hurricane Florence wide-angle ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst took this image of Hurricane Florence on 12 September 2018, 400 km high from the International Space Station. He commented: “Watch out, America! Hurricane Florence is so enormous, we could only capture her with a super wide angle lens from the International Space Station, 400 km directly above the eye. Get prepared on the East Coast, this is a no-kidding nightmare coming for you.” Alexander is on his second six-month Space Station mission.