Sunday, January 16, 2005

The other planets in our solar system are named after Roman gods, which is way cooler than some numbering system in Latin or German or something like that. There's something about those cold, aloof jewels spinning around out there in space that seems very regal and god-like. Jupiter, mightiest of the planets, is named for the god king. Venus, the goddess of love, gets a beautiful, bright, yet deadly planet in her honor, or maybe in her worship. And Mars, so aptly named with its blood-tinged hue after the god of war.
Then there's Titan. Saturn's largest moon has always fascinated me- just shy of being the biggest moon in the solar system, it's actually larger than Mercury or Pluto, and it's even colder than Edmonton. Titan was named after a whole class of god-like beings, the titans, who preceded the gods and warred with them. So, it's like having a bunch of goldfish named Dracula and Frankenstein and Casper and then having one just named Monster. Titan is the primeval archetype of bludgeoning brutality and power. He doesn't even need a proper name. Just titan. Cool.
You probably heard that Huygens landed on Titan and has been sending back the first pictures of its surface. Really cool.

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