I’ve always been an armchair (more like beanbag, really) astronomy freak. That said,I’m totally blown away by this excellent shot of a sunset from the surface of Mars, taken by Nasa’s Spirit rover in 2005, but coming to my attention just a couple days ago. I love Mars. I love space. I love inhumanity.

Here’s my favorite Mars image site (RSS feed). It’s a badass feed to have in your RSS aggregator

Mad, gibbering, armchair Mars nerd that I am, I can’t get enough about these supposed cave/sinkhole entrances on the surface of Mars. Apparently, there’s a bunch of them around the Arsia Mons volcano.

“Images from the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) aboard NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter have revealed seven possible cave entrances on the flanks of the Arsia Mons volcano. The caves, named Dena, Chloe, Wendy, Annie, Abbey, Nikki and Jeanne after loved ones of their discoverers, are collectively known as the “seven sisters.” Cave entrances measure from 100m to 252m wide and they are believed to be at least 73m to 96m deep. Because light does not reach the floor of most of the caves, it is likely that they extend much deeper than these lower estimates and widen below the surface. Dena is the only exception, its floor is visible and was measured to be 130m deep. The interior of these caverns is possibly protected from micrometeoroids, UV radiation, solar flares and high energy particles that bombard the planet’s surface. Some researchers have suggested that this protection makes the caves good candidates for future efforts to find liquid water and signs of life.”

Caves beneath the surface of Mars. Very sweet.

I like to keep shit interplanetary and ever since I was a kid, I’ve been fascinated with the surface photos of Mars. This morning, I find myself apeshit-agog at the largest Mars image repository I have ever seen or heard of that’s publically accessible. 1.7 terabytes—over 1,100 high resolution images and counting, each averaging a gigabyte in size! There’s a nifty gallery viewer, offering up several down-sized versions of images so you can browse to your heart’s content. Each image has it’s own description and relevant information. There’s even an RSS feed to keep you in the loop as new photos are added to the database. Awesome. It’s a great way to kill a few hours, geeking out or looking for that sweet alien desktop wallpaper you know you must have in order to concentrate properly.

Check out this image of what’s thought to be a cavern entrance or sinkhole in an immense lava plain. Fucking unreal. Fucking interplanetary—just the way I like it.