Galle is a crater on

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

. It is located on the eastern rim of the huge

impact basin An impact crater is a circular depression in the surface of a solid astronomical object formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact craters ...

Argyre Planitia Argyre Planitia is a plain located within the impact basin Argyre in the southern highlands of Mars. Its name comes from a map produced by Giovanni Schiaparelli in 1877; it refers to Argyre, a mythical island of silver in Greek mythology. Arg ...

Argyre quadrangle The Argyre quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The Argyre quadrangle is also referred to as MC-26 (Mars Chart-26). It contains Argyre P ...

. It is named after the German

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

Johann Gottfried Galle Johann Gottfried Galle (9 June 1812 – 10 July 1910) was a German astronomer from Radis, Germany, at the Berlin Observatory who, on 23 September 1846, with the assistance of student Heinrich Louis d'Arrest, was the first person to view the pl ...

. Galle is often known as the "happy face crater" because

pareidolia Pareidolia (; ) is the tendency for perception to impose a meaningful interpretation on a nebulous stimulus, usually visual, so that one sees an object, pattern, or meaning where there is none. Common examples are perceived images of animals, ...

causes a curved

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

in the southern part of the crater and two smaller mountain clusters further north to appear to be a

smiley face A smiley, sometimes referred to as a smiley face, is a basic ideogram that represents a smiling face. Since the 1950s it has become part of popular culture worldwide, used either as a standalone ideogram, or as a form of communication, such a ...

. The formation was first photographed by Viking Orbiter 1. A second "happy face crater", smaller than Galle and located at 45.1°S, 55.0°W in

Nereidum Montes The Nereidum Montes is a mountain range on Mars. It stretches 1,143 km, northeast of Argyre Planitia. It is in the Argyre quadrangle. The mountains are named after a Classical albedo feature. Nereidum Montes has gullies in some areas. A ...

, was discovered by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on January 28, 2008.

Appearance in ''Watchmen''

As the smiley is a key motif in the

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

Watchmen ''Watchmen'' is an American comic book Limited series (comics), maxiseries by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins (comics), John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 a ...

'' by

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and ''From Hell' ...

and

Dave Gibbons David Chester Gibbons (born 14 April 1949) is an English comics artist, writer and sometimes letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries ''Watchmen'' and the Superman story "For the Man ...

, the crater was used as a story location after the coincidence was noted by Gibbons. According to Gibbons, the similarity "was almost too good to be true. I worried that if we put it in, people would never believe it." The crater also appears in the same scene during the

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

Gallery

Image:Galle crater 352S24 352S26.jpg, Viking Orbiter 1 mosaic Image:Galle crater 576A64 576A66.jpg, Another Viking 1 mosaic Image:Wikigalleeast.jpg, East side of Galle crater, as seen by CTX camera (on MRO). Image:Wikigulledunesgullies.jpg, Gullies on mounds and dunes in Galle crater, as seen by CTX camera. Note this is an enlargement of previous photo. Image:Wikigallelayers.jpg, Layered deposit in Galle crater, as seen by CTX camera. Note: this is an enlargement of a previous image. Image:Wikigalleflowsgullies.jpg, Old glacial flows and gullies on eastern side of Galle crater, as seen by CTX camera. Note: this is an enlargement of the previous photo. Image:Wikigalledevils.jpg, Dunes and

dust devil tracks Martian dust devils (dust devils on Mars) were first photographed by the Viking orbiters in the 1970s. In 1997, the Mars Pathfinder lander detected a dust devil passing over it. In the first image below, photographed by the Mars Global Surveyor, ...

in Galle crater, as seen by CTX camera. Wikigalleeye.jpg, Part of Galle crater, as seen by CTX camera. The right "eye" and "mouth" are labeled. One of two dune fields are labeled as well. ESP 046684 1280molawide.jpg, Wide view of area around Galle crater. Colors show elevations. ESP 046684 1280molaclosergalle.jpg, Region around Galle crater. Colors show elevations. ESP 046684 1280molaclosegalle.jpg, Galle crater. Colors show elevations. Arrow indicates a layered mound that is enlarged in other images to follow. ESP 046684 1280gallecontext.jpg, Wide CTX view of part of layered mound. Parts of this mound are enlarged in HiRISE images that follow. ESP 046684 1280layerspretty.jpg, HiRISE image from area in previous image. Picture taken under HiWish program. ESP 046684 1280layersprettybottom.jpg, Layers in mound in Galle crater, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program ESP 046684 1280layersprettymiddle.jpg, Layers in mound in Galle crater, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program ESP 046684 1280layersprettytop.jpg, Layers in mound in Galle crater, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program 46684 1280breaking.jpg, Layers breaking up into boulders in Galle crater, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program 46684 1280gullies.jpg, Layers and gullies in Galle crater, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program 46684 1280layers.jpg, Close view of layers in mound in Galle crater, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program 46684 1280mesa.jpg, Layered mesa in mound in Galle crater, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program 46684 1280polygons.jpg, Layers and polygons in mound in Galle crater, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program 46684 1280wall.jpg, Close view of layers in mound in Galle crater, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program

References

External links

The Galle Crater on NASA.gov
* {{Portal bar, Solar System Impact craters on Mars Argyre quadrangle Watchmen

Appearance in ''Watchmen''

Gallery

See also

References

External links