Red Planet's Ancient Equator Located

Scientific American (online) ^ | April 20, 2005 | Sarah Graham

[SunkenCiv]

Jafar Arkani-Hamed of McGill University discovered that five impact basins--dubbed Argyre, Hellas, Isidis, Thaumasia and Utopia--form an arclike pattern on the Martian surface. Three of the basins are well-preserved and remain visible today. The locations of the other two, in contrast, were inferred from measurements of anomalies in the planet's gravitational field... a single source--most likely an asteroid that was initially circling the sun in the same plane as Mars--created all five craters. At one point the asteroid passed close to the Red Planet... and was broken apart by the force of the planet's gravity. The resulting five pieces subsequently slammed into Mars along its then equator. The center of the circle inscribed by the five craters, which marks the planet's ancient south pole, lies at present day latitude -30 and longitude 175.

[SunkenCiv]

When the Days Were Shorter
Alaska Science Forum (Article #742) | November 11, 1985 | Larry Gedney
Posted on 10/04/2004 10:31:59 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1234919/posts

New evidence for the Moon's soft middle
New Scientist | 14 February 2002 | Will Knight
Posted on 12/27/2004 2:29:35 PM PST by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1309193/posts

In the shadow of the Moon
New Scientist | 30 January 1999 | editors
Posted on 08/31/2004 8:42:25 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1203912/posts

[RightWhale]

Seen the new Rover image of the Martian sunset? Over at http://spaceflightnow.com/

It does well as wallpaper.

[SunkenCiv]

Hey, thanks!

[SunkenCiv]

Maybe an idea for an FR topic? I didn't find it with a search:

First Shooting Star Seen from Mars
By Robert Roy Britt
Senior Science Writer
posted: 01 June 2005
01:01 pm ET
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/050601_mars_meteor.html

[KevinDavis]

[tahotdog]

Red Planet's Ancient Equator Located

You're saying the equator of the planet has CHANGED??

[SunkenCiv]

:') Yeah, that's the upshot. Emilio Spedicato has an online article (somewhere) regarding how a big impact is sufficient to change the axis of rotation of the body so impacted.

[SunkenCiv]

Free wallpapers (space)

[RightWhale]

There will be a live thread of the Tempel impact Sunday.

[SunkenCiv]

Ping me, if it's not too much trouble.

[SunkenCiv]

Fire And Ice: Mars Images Reveal Recent Volcanic And Glacial Activity (climate change)
ScienceDaily.com | 2005-03-24 | NA
Posted on 01/22/2006 1:37:59 PM PST by neverdem
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1562874/posts
22 posted on 01/22/2006 9:01:12 PM PST by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1562874/posts?page=22#22

Martian Snow Source Of Tropical Glaciers, Research Team Reports
ScienceDaily.com | 2006-01-20 | NA
Posted on 01/22/2006 2:05:06 PM PST by neverdem
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1562887/posts

[SunkenCiv]

regarding:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1390424/posts?page=16#16
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1390424/posts?page=35#35
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1390424/posts?page=37#37

see:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1390424/posts?page=18#18
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1390424/posts?page=41#41

and:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/1250694/posts?page=26#26
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1390424/posts?page=30#30
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1390424/posts?page=33#33
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1390424/posts?page=34#34

[SunkenCiv]

Zoom in on Mars:
New Highly Detailed Images
by Robert Roy Britt
15 October 2002

A new image from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) reveal the ridges to be part of a larger circular structure that's about 53 miles (86 kilometers) across. "It is possible that this pattern reflects an origin related to an ancient, eroded meteor impact crater that was filled-in, buried, then partially exhumed," according to scientists at Malin Space Science Systems, which operates the camera for NASA. "In this case, the ridges might be the remains of filled-in fractures in the bedrock into which the crater formed, or filled-in cracks within the material that filled the crater. Or both explanations could be wrong."

Ghosts of Impacts Past:
Ancient Hidden Craters on Mars Revealed
by Robert Roy Britt
05 November 2002

Images obtained by SPACE.com reveal hints of circular outlines and subtle depressions that appear to be craters created during tremendous asteroid or comet impacts that pummeled the Red Planet’s original crust 4 billion years ago or more. The features have since been mostly buried or eroded away... If the entombed craters exist as suspected, then the current visible surface of Mars does not represent the original crust, as some scientists have thought... Mars, Earth and the other planets are thought to have formed about 4.5 or 4.6 billion years ago. A period of heavy bombardment likely ensued, as countless rocks were cleared from the fledgling solar system. A record of the bombardment remains on the Moon, where little erosion or geologic activity takes place... "Erin's results show that the assumption many people have made that the oldest visible surface units go back to 4.6 billion years ago is wrong," the father told SPACE.com. "That means the absolute time scales people have tried to use are probably wrong. It also means there is a recoverable history on Mars that we cannot easily see, except in terms of the crater record. The surface we see is not the original crust of Mars, but something younger."

[SunkenCiv]

[SunkenCiv]

Mars moon emerges from the dark
BBC | 11-11-04 | staff
Posted on 11/11/2004 5:30:19 PM EST by Nachum
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1277762/posts

[SunkenCiv]

reprising the above to add quote:

Mars moon emerges from the dark
BBC | 11-11-04 | staff
Posted on 11/11/2004 5:30:19 PM EST by Nachum
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1277762/posts

“Phobos is slowly falling down to Mars and is expected to crash into the planet in the next few million years.”

[SunkenCiv]

Update, because I didn't think this TVF paper warranted a separate topic. My apologies for the length.

After the triumph of the Alvarez scenario for the K-T boundary extinction event, TVF altered his EPH to include an earlier exploding planet in order to account for an origin of the impactor on Earth.

Without solid dates for the various events offered as evidence for even one exploding planet (not to mention a lack of a mechanism to make a planet explode), TVF is forced to ignore other explanations such as supernovae debris bombardment, cometary debris trails, random rocks passing through, dark companions to the Sun, and various other possible causes.

Showing simultanaeity (sp?) of inferred events can be done, as the authors of The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes have shown.

The Violent History of Mars
by Tom Van Flandern
Meta Research Bulletin
March 15 2007 issue

Abstract. With overwhelming evidence now available for the basic correctness of the exploded planet hypothesis, questions arise about the details of the most recent such explosions responsible for shaping Mars and its orbit as we know them today. This study shows that the basic scenario suggested by the evidence and described previously stands up under rigorous scrutiny despite the improbability of passing these new tests by chance. And it allows us to derive specific information about the properties and history of the bodies involved that could only be guessed at heretofore. The solution we adopt is not unique, but satisfies all previous constraints and leads to the present day orbit and rotation period of Mars. "Planet V", the original parent of Mars, was apparently of "helium class", a proposed new class of planets. It had an estimated mass of 2.4 Earth masses, a circular solar orbit at about 1.5 au from the Sun, and two "twin" moons. The inner moon, which later became today's planet Mars, originally had a circular satellite orbit with a period of 20 hours. Tidal locking made that its spin period as well. Outer moon "Body C" originally had a circular satellite orbit with a period of 40 hours and a mass of 86% of that of Mars. Following the explosion of Planet V 65 million years ago, Body C and Mars were left in a mutual, highly eccentric, prograde satellite orbit while continuing to orbit the Sun on an altered solar orbit. Tidal evolution continued until the explosion of Body C 3.2 million years ago, leaving Mars alone in its present solar orbit with relatively high eccentricity for a planet and a prograde rotation period of 1.026 days. Mars today shows the many scars that exhibit this violent history, seen dramatically in the accompanying video.

[SunkenCiv]

I found a file from 2002 in the "Mars" folder, called "Tidal Bulges on Mars". Here's a post I'd prepared for another forum and saved within the file.

Tidal Bulges on Mars
by R.C. Hoagland and M. H. Bara

"A revaluation of Mars ancient history is therefore proposed, suggesting that Mars (well after solar system formation) was captured into synchronous orbital lock with a larger planetary companion ('Planet V'), accounting for the clustering of present day water bursts around the former beds of two bi-modally distributed 'Mars ancient oceans' as a direct result."

Hoagland and Bara here refer to the same hypothetical body, 'Planet V', as the original parent body of Mars. They even refer to "synchronous orbital lock" which means that Mars showed the same face to the 'Planet V', just as TVF said. One major difference (at least, I think so) is that Hoagland and Bara say that Mars was captured by 'Planet V', a scenario that TVF probably doesn't embrace. I'm pretty sure that any borrowing of ideas was in the direction from TVF to Hoagland and Bara, although their use of Valles Marineris as evidence for the prior capture of Mars is similar to V.A. Firsoff's idea about the formation of Earth's "tectonic plates".

[SunkenCiv]

The Exploded Planet Hypothesis - 2000: The Original Solar System
by Tom Van Flandern

...we have strong hints for two original planets near what is now the main asteroid belt: hypothetical "Planet V" and "Planet K". These were probably gas giant planets with moons of significant size, such as Mars, before they exploded. We have hints of two more asteroid belts, probably from the explosions of two more planets ("Planet T" and "Planet X") beyond Neptune. And we have hints for two extra-large gas giant planets, "Planet A" and "Planet B", that exploded back near the solar system beginning. Of the existing nine major planets today, we have strong evidence that Mercury is an escaped moon of Venus [xi], Mars is an escaped moon of Planet V, and Pluto and its moon Charon are escaped moons of Neptune [xii]... This model makes a major prediction that will soon be tested: Extrasolar planets should arise in twin pairs also, with 2-to-1 orbital period resonances common. If so, then many cases that now appear to be single massive planets on highly elliptical orbits will turn out, when enough observations are accumulated, to be twin resonant planets on near-circular orbits.

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[SunkenCiv]

American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Physics News
by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein
Number 432 (Story #3), June 7, 1999

The surface of Mars has been mapped to 13-meter precision, better than for some places on Earth. Laser light sent from and returning to the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft reveals that the southern hemisphere is one big highland (6 km higher) compared to the northern hemisphere. Surface water, if there was any, would have collected in the North, although there is not yet definitive proof of any boreal ocean. One thing that is known about the northern lowland: it is the flattest place in the solar system. The South's elevation is due at least in part to an immense amount of material raised during an ancient impact which fashioned a huge crater known as the Hellas basin. (Science, 28 May 1999.)