PLANETS

"Observe how system into system runs,
What other planets circle other suns..."

Alexander Pope




MARS with the Elephant beetle, Scarabaeidae Megasoma mars, and the globular cluster Omega Centauri.

Red and rocky, named for the Roman god of war, Mars looms large in our imagination so it is surprising to note that it is only half the size of our own planet.
Interest in the planet is augmented by the vast number of movies and books about life there and particularly about that "life" coming here. The first movie was actually made by Thomas Edison in 1910. It lasted 4 minutes and included a scientist and a giant. It was not a documentary. Just reading the names of the movies on the list of the Mars Society of San Diego is a treat.

The panic caused by Orson Welles' radio broadcast of War of the Worlds on October 30, 1938 and the continuing belief in the events at Roswell NM in June or July of 1947 point out the deepseated fears that many people harbor regarding the possibilities of invasion from outer space.

Invasion by the Megasoma beetle that is pictured with the planet is unlikely in most neighborhoods, although it is fairly common in South America.



URANUS with the Madagascar sunset moth, Uraniidae Chrysiridia riphearia, and local universal map 2 Mass.

Uranus is a modern planet, unknown to the ancient astronomers. Using a telescope, Sir William Herschel discovered the dim, distant planet in 1781. It was eventually named for the ancient Greek god of the sky.
It is almost featureless, primarily made up of helium & hydrogen gas, a blue-green "ice-giant" with 20 known moons.

While the planet may be featureless, the day flying Uraniid moths are spectacularly beautiful and often mistaken for butterflies.



SATURN with the moth Saturniidae Eacles imperialis and the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A.

The famed rings of Saturn were first seen by Galileo through the new invention of the telescope, but they were originally misinterpreted as moons.
The image of Saturn is so beautiful that it is hard to reconcile its relation to the unrelentingly dreary reputation of the Roman god it is named for.

The Saturniidae moths have eye spots that are reminiscent of Saturn's concentric rings.