User:RandomCritic/Sandbox

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[edit] Timeline of planetary encounters

[edit] 1960s

[edit] 1970s

[edit] 1980s

[edit] 1990s

[edit] 2000s

[edit] Moon probes

[edit] Byflights

Spacecraft Date Type Notes Ref
Luna 1 January 4, 1959 flyby first spacecraft in the vicinity of the Moon (flew within 5,995 km, but probably an intended impactor) [1]
Pioneer 4 March 4, 1959 flyby achieved distant flyby; first US probe to enter solar orbit [2]
Luna 3 October 6, 1959 flyby first images from the lunar farside [3]
Ranger 3 January 28, 1962 impactor missed target [4]
Ranger 5 October 21, 1962 impactor power failure, missed target [5]
Luna 4 April 5, 1963 lander? missed target, became Earth satellite [6]
Luna 6 June 8, 1965 lander missed Moon [7]
Zond 3 July 20, 1965 flyby successful flyby [8]
Zond 5 September 18, 1968 flyby bioscience experiments [9]
Zond 6 November 14, 1968 flyby cosmic-ray, micrometeoroid and bioscience studies [10]
Zond 7 August 11, 1969 flyby returned to soft landing on Earth [11]
Zond 8 October 24, 1970 flyby returned to soft landing on Earth [12]
Mariner 10 November 1973 flyby en route to Venus and Mercury [13]
ICE (formerly ISEE3) December 22, 1983 flyby gravity assist en route to comet flybys [14]
AsiaSat 3 May/June 1998 errant communications satellite, flew within 6,200 kilometers of Moon during orbit correction manoeuvres [15]
Nozomi September 24, 1998 flyby gravity assists on planned mission to Mars [16]
December 18, 1998 flyby

[edit] Orbiters

Spacecraft Date Type Notes Ref
Luna 10 April 3, 1966 –
May 30, 1966		 orbiter [17]
Explorer 33 July 1, 1966 –
September 15, 1971		 orbiter studied interplanetary plasma, cosmic rays, magnetic fields and solar X rays; failed to attain lunar orbit as intended, but achieved mission objectives from Earth orbit [18]
Lunar Orbiter 1 August 14, 1966 –
October 29, 1966		 orbiter photographic mapping of lunar surface; intentionally impacted after completion of mission [19]
Luna 11 August 28, 1966 –
October 1, 1966		 orbiter [20]
Luna 12 October 25, 1966 –
January 19, 1967		 orbiter [21]
Lunar Orbiter 2 November 10, 1966 –
October 11, 1967		 orbiter photographic mapping of lunar surface; intentionally impacted after completion of mission [22]
Lunar Orbiter 3 February 8, 1967 –
October 9, 1967		 orbiter photographic mapping of lunar surface; intentionally impacted after completion of mission [23]
Lunar Orbiter 4 May–October 1967 orbiter lunar photographic survey [24]
Explorer 35 July 1967 –
June 24, 1973		 orbiter studies of interplanetary plasma, magnetic fields, energetic particles and solar X rays [25]
Lunar Orbiter 5 August 5, 1967 –
January 31, 1968		 orbiter lunar photographic survey; intentionally impacted after completion of mission [26]
Luna 14 April 10, 1968 – ? orbiter [27]
Luna 19 October 3, 1971 –
October 1972		 orbiter [28]
Explorer 49 June 15, 1973 –
June 1975		 orbiter radio astronomy observations; last US lunar mission until 1994 [29]
Luna 22 June 2, 1974 –
November 1974		 orbiter [30]
Hiten February–April 1993 orbiter in Moon-crossing Earth orbit from January 1990, later transferred to lunar orbit after failure of Hagoromo; intentionally impacted on Moon at end of mission [31]
Hagoromo March 1990 orbiter released by Hiten into lunar orbit, but transmitter failed and orbit never confirmed
Clementine February–June 1994 orbiter lunar and Earth observations and component testing; planned Geographos flyby failed [32]
Lunar Prospector January 1998 –
July 1999		 orbiter lunar surface mapping; intentionally impacted into polar crater at end of mission to test for liberation of water vapour (not detected) [33]
SMART-1 November 13, 2004 –
September 3, 2006		 orbiter technology testbed and lunar geological studies; intentionally impacted at end of mission [34]
Chang'e 1 October 2007 orbiter on launch pad [35]
SELENE
(Kaguya)		 October 3, 2007 – planned one year mission orbiter, two co-satellites in orbit; planned mineralogical, geographical, magnetic and gravitational observations [36]

[edit] Landers and impactors

Spacecraft Date Type Status Notes Ref
Luna 2 September 14, 1959 impactor success first impact on Moon [37]
Ranger 4 April 26, 1962 impactor failure hit the lunar farside; no data returned [38]
Ranger 6 2 February 1964 impactor partial success impacted, but no pictures returned due to power failure [39]
Ranger 7 July 31, 1964 impactor success returned pictures up until impact [40]
Ranger 8 February 20, 1965 impactor success returned pictures up until impact [41]
Ranger 9 March 24, 1965 impactor success TV broadcast of live pictures up until impact [42]
Luna 5 May 12, 1965 lander failure crashed into Moon [43]
Luna 7 October 7, 1965 lander failure crashed into Moon [44]
Luna 8 December 6, 1965 lander failure crashed into Moon [45]
Luna 9 February 3, 1966 –
February 6, 1966		 lander success first soft landing; first images from the surface [46]
Surveyor 1 June 2, 1966 lander success first US soft landing; Surveyor program performed various tests in support of forthcoming manned landings [47]
Surveyor 2 September 23, 1966 lander failure crashed [48]
Luna 13 December 24, 1966 lander success [49]
Surveyor 3 April 20, 1967 –
May 4, 1967		 lander success [50]
Surveyor 4 July 17, 1967 lander failure crashed into Moon [51]
Surveyor 5 September 11, 1967 –
December 17, 1967		 lander success [52]
Surveyor 6 November 10, 1967 –
December 14, 1967		 lander success [53]
Surveyor 7 January 10, 1968 –
February 21, 1968		 lander success [54]
Luna 15 July 21, 1969 sample return failure crashed into Moon [55]
Luna 16 September 20, 1970 sample return success first robotic sample return [56]
Luna 17 November 17, 1970 –
October 4, 1971		 lander success [57]
Lunokhod 1 rover success first robotic rover; travelled over 10 km
Luna 18 September 11, 1971 lander/sample return? failure crashed into Moon [58]
Luna 20 February 21, 1972 sample return success second successful robotic sample return [59]
Luna 21 January 15, 1973 –
May 1973?		 lander success [60]
Lunokhod 2 rover success second robotic rover; travelled 37 km
Luna 23 November 6, 1974 sample return failure damaged on landing, sample return failed [61]
Luna 24 August 18, 1976 sample return success third and final successful sample return in Luna programme [62]

[edit] Characteristics

  • Setting: Space opera stories take place in a world (usually an imagined future, but potentially a distant past, an alternative present, or another galaxy) in which space travel is both possible and commonplace, and where there are typically many other advances in technology. The stories also chiefly take place in space, on barren worldlets or in bustling spaceports; stories set chiefly on Earth or on alien planets generally belong to other genres.
  • Themes:
  • Scale:

[edit] Queens of Poland

Picture Name Father Birth Marriage Became Queen Ceased to be Queen Death Spouse
Christiane Eberhardine Christian Ernst, Margrave of Bayreuth 19 December 1671 10 May 1698 1697 12 July 1704 4 September 1727
Katarzyna Jan Karol Opaliński 1680 10 May 1698 12 July 1704 1709 1747
Christiane Eberhardine Christian Ernst, Margrave of Bayreuth 19 December 1671 10 May 1698 1709 4 September 1727
Katarzyna Jan Karol Opaliński 1680 10 May 1698 1733 26 January 1736 1747

[edit] Moon features

Riccioli Langren Hevelius
Insula Ventorum
"Isle of Winds"
Lacus Mortis
"Lake of Death"
Lacus Somniorum
"Lake of Dreams"
Littus Eclipticum
"Ecliptic Shore"		 Africæ Pars
"Part of Africa"
Mare Crisium Mare De Moura sive Caspium Palus Moeotis
Mare Fecunditatis
"Sea of Fecundity"		 Mare Langrenianum
"Langrenian Sea"		 Mare Caspium
"Caspian Sea"
Mare Frigoris
"Sea of Chill"		 Mare Astronomicum
"Astronomers' Sea"		 Mare Hyperboreum
"Hyperborean Sea"
Mare Humorum Mare Venetum
"Venetian Sea"		 Sinus Sirbonis
"Sirbonian Gulf"
Mare Imbrium
"Sea of Showers"		 Mare Austriacum
"Austrian Sea"		 Mare Mediterraneum (N)
"Mediterranean Sea"
Mare Nectarum Sinus Batauicus
Mare Nubium
Sea of Clouds		 Mare Borbonicum
"Sea of the Bourbons"		 Mare Pamphilicum
"Sea of the Pamphili"
Mare Serenitatis
"Sea of Serenity"		 Mare Eugenianum
"Sea of Eugene"		 Pontus Euxinus (N)
"Black Sea"
Mare Tranquilitatis
"Sea of Tranquility"		 Mare Belgicum
"Dutch Sea"		 Pontus Euxinus (S)
"Black Sea"
Mare Vaporum Fretum Catholicum
"Catholic Strait"		 Propontis
"Sea of Marmara"
Oceanus Procellarum
"Ocean of Storms"		 Oceanus Philippicus
"Philip's Ocean"		 Mare Mediterraneum
"Mediterranean Sea"
Palus Nebularum
Palus Nimborum
Palus Putredinis
Palus Somni
Peninsula Deliriorum
Peninsula Fulgurum
Peninsula Fulminum
Sinus Æstuum
"Bay of "
Sinus Epidemiarum
"Bay of "
Sinus Iridum
"Bay of Rainbows"		 Sinus Geometricus?
"Geometers' Bay"
Sinus Roris
"Bay of Dew"		 Sinus Principis
"Prince's Bay"		 Sinus Hyperb(oreus)
"Hyperborean Bay"
Stagnum Glaciei
Terra Caloris
"Land of Heat"		 Terra Iustitiæ
"Land of Justice"		 Ægyptus & Palæstina
"Egypt and Palestine"
Terra Fertilitatis
"Land of Fertility"		 Terra Dignititis (S)
"Land of Worth"		 Persia
"Iran"
Terra Grandinis
"Land of Hail"		 Terra Virtutis
"Land of Virtue"
Terra Manna
"Land of Manna"		 Terra Temperantiæ
"Land of Temperance"		 Colchis
Terra Nivium
"Land of Snows"		 Montes Austriaci
"Austrian Mountains"		 Romania & Italia
Terra Pruinæ
"Land of Frost"		 Terra Laboris
"Land of Labor"
Terra Sanitatis
"Land of Health"		 Terra Dignitatis (N)
"Land of Worth"		 Asia Minor
Terra Siccitatis
"Land of Drought"		 Terra Honoris
"Land of Honor"		 [[Regio Hyperboria
"Hyperborean Region"
Terra Sterilitatis
"Land of Sterility"		 Libyæ Pars & Arabia
"Part of Libya" and "Arabia"
Terra Vigoris Terra Pacis
"Land of Peace"		 Sarmatiæ Asiaticæ Pars
& Scythiæ Pars
"Part of Asiatic Sarmatia and Part of Scythia"
Terra Vitæ
"Land of Life"		 Terra Sapientiæ
"Land of Wisdom"		 Sarmatiæ Europeæ Pars
& Taurica Chersonesus
"part of European Sarmatia and the Tauric Chersonese"

[edit] Features by Octant

Octans Terræ Littores Insulæ Peninsulæ Oceani Maria Sinus Lacus Paludes Stagna
I Pruinæ
Siccitatis		 Eclipticum Procellarum Imbrium Iridum
Roris		 Putredinis
II Siccitatis
Grandinis
Nivium		 Frigoris
Imbrium
Vaporum		 Nebularum
Putredinis		 Glaciei
III Vitæ Serenitatis
Vaporum		 Mortis
Somniorum
IV Vigoris
Sanitatis
 Tranquilitatis
Fecundidatis
Crisium
V Sanitatis
Manna		 Nectaris
Fecunditatis
VI
VII Sterilitatis
Caloris		 Deliriorum
Fulgurum		 Humorum
Nubium
 Epidemiarum
VIII Caloris Eclipticum Ventorum Procellarum Æstuum Nimborum

[edit] Octant I

Anaximander Aristarchus Cleosteatus Ecphantus Eratosthenes Harpalus Heraclides Helicon Oenopides Pitheas Pythagoras Timocharis Xenophanes

[edit] Octant II

Anaxagoras Anaximen. Aratus Archimed. Architas Aristillus Aristotel. Autolicus Calippus Conon Democrit. Epigenes Euctemon Eudoxus Meton Philolaus Plato Timaeus Thales Theætet.

[edit] Octant III

Atlas Berosus Cepheus Geminus Endymion Hercules Hermes Higinius Manilius Menelaus Mercurius Messhala Osymandies Possidonius Sulpic. Gall. Zoroaster

[edit] Octant IV

Agrippa Alcuin. Ariadæus Beda Censorinus Cleomedes S. Dionys. Areop. Exiguus Firmicus Goclenius (or Goelenius) Iul. Cæsar Langrenus Macrob. Mark. Capella Proclus Plinius Plutarch. Seneca Sosigenes Taruntius Vitruuius

[edit] Octant V

Abenezra Abilfedea Alf... Almanon Azophi Claramontius Fabritius Fracastor. Fumen(i)us Geber Hipparchus Hypatia Metius Mulerius Neãder Petauius Piccolomin. Pontanus Rab. Leui Reitha Riccius Sacrobosc. S. Catharina S. Cyrill S. Isidorus S. Theophil. Santbec. Snellius Steuicus? Stiborius Tatius Theon iun. Theon sen. Vendelin. Zagut

[edit] Octant VI

Albategn. Aliacensis Alpehagati? Alphonsus Apianus Arzachel Barocius Bartolus Blanchinus Casatus Fernelius Gabeus Gauricus Gemma Fris. Gruemberger Gulielm-Haff Hagecius Homelius Licetus Lilij Longomontan. Maginus Malapet... Man... Maurolycus Moretus Mutus Nonius Orotnius Petiscus Ptolemaeus Purbachius Regiomontanus Scheiner Schomberger Simpelius Stoefler Thebis? Valtherus Zucchius

[edit] Octant VII

Bayerus Bulliadus Byrgius Campanus Capuanus Cichus Crugerus De... Eichstadius Fontana (crater) Gassendus Hainzelius Herigonius Iunctinus Kristmanus Mersenius Morinus Munosius Origanus Phocylides Profetius Rothmãnus Schikardus Schillerus Sirsalis Vietæ Zupus

[edit] Octant VIII

Bessa... Billy Caualerius Carolinus Copernicus Cusanus Dari.. Dom. Maria Eustachius Grimaldus Heuelius Hortens. Keplerus Lansbergius Linemannus Marius Milichius Moletius Reinerus Reinhold Rheticus Ricciolus Rocca Stadius


[edit] Sample text

Nemo enim ipsam voluptátem, quia voluptas sit, aspernátur aut odit aut fugit,

Amer:[ ˈni.moʊ ˈi.nəm ˈɪp.səm ˌvɑ.ləpˈteɪ.təm ˈkwaɪ.ə vəˈlʌp.təs ˈsɪt ˌæs.pɚˈneɪ.tɚ ˈɔt ˈoʊ.dɪt ˈɔt ˈfju.dʒɪt ]

Brit:[ ˈni.məʊ ˈi.nɪm ˈɪp.səm ˌvɒ.ləpˈteɪ.tɛm ˈkwaɪ.ə vəˈlʌp.təs ˈsɪt ˌæs.pəˈneɪ.tə ˈɔt ˈəʊ.dɪt ˈɔt ˈfju.dʒɪt ]

Aust:[ ˈni.məʉ ˈi.nəm ˈɪp.səm ˌvɔ.ləpˈtæɪ.təm ˈkwɑe.ə vəˈlap.təs ˈsɪt ˌæs.pəˈnæɪ.tə ˈot ˈəʉ.dɪt ˈot ˈfjʉ.dʒɪt ]

sed quia consequuntur magni dolóres eos, qui ratióne voluptátem sequi nesciunt,

Amer:[ ˈsɛd ˈkwaɪ.ə ˌkɑn.səˈkwʌn.tɚ ˈmæg.naɪ dəˈlo.ɹiz ˈi.ɑs ˈkwaɪ ˌɹeɪ.ʃiˈoʊ.ni ˌvɑ.ləpˈteɪ.təm ˈsi.kwaɪ ˈnɛ.ʃi.ənt ]

Brit:[ ˈsɛd ˈkwaɪ.ə ˌkɒn.səˈkwʌn.tə ˈmæg.naɪ dəˈlɔ.ɹiz ˈi.ɒs ˈkwaɪ ˌɹeɪ.ʃiˈəʊ.nɪ ˌvɒ.ləpˈteɪ.tɛm ˈsi.kwaɪ ˈnɛ.ʃi.ənt ]

Aust:[ ˈsed ˈkwɑe.ə ˌkɔn.səˈkwʌn.tə ˈmæg.nɑe dəˈlo.ɹiz ˈi.ɔs ˈkwɑe ˌɹæɪ.ʃiˈəʉ.nɪ ˌvɔ.ləpˈtæɪ.təm ˈsi.kwɑe ˈne.ʃi.ənt ]

neque porro quisquam est, qui dolórem ipsum, quia dolor sit, amet, consectétur,

Amer:[ ˈni.kwi ˈpɑ.ɹoʊ ˈkwɪs.kwɑm ˈɛst ˈkwaɪ dəˈlo.ɹəm ˈɪp.səm ˈkwaɪ.ə ˈdoʊ.lɚ ˈsɪt ˈeɪ.mɛt ˌkɑn.səkˈti.tɚ ]

Brit:[ ˈni.kwɪ ˈpɒ.ɹəʊ ˈkwɪs.kwɒm ˈɛst ˈkwaɪ dəˈlɔ.ɹɛm ˈɪp.səm ˈkwaɪ.ə ˈdəʊ.lə ˈsɪt ˈeɪ.mɛt ˌkɒn.səkˈti.tə ]

Aust:[ ˈni.kwɪ ˈpɔ.ɹəʉ ˈkwɪs.kwɔm ˈest ˈkwaɪ dəˈlo.ɹəm ˈɪp.səm ˈkwɑe.ə ˈdəʉ.lə ˈsɪt ˈæɪ.met ˌkɔn.səkˈti.tə ]

adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt,

Am:[ˌæ.dəˈpɪ.saɪ ˌvi.lɪt ˈsɛd ˈkwaɪ.ə ˈnɑn ˈnʌŋ.kwɑm ˈi.əs ˈmoʊ.daɪ ˈtɛm.pə.ɹə ˈɪn.sə.dənt ]

Brit:[ˌæ.dəˈpɪ.saɪ ˌvi.lɪt ˈsɛd ˈkwaɪ.ə ˈnɒn ˈnʌŋ.kwɒm ˈi.əs ˈməʊ.daɪ ˈtɛm.pə.ɹə ˈɪn.sə.dənt ]

Aust:[ˌæ.dəˈpɪ.sɑe ˌvi.lɪt ˈsed ˈkwɑe.ə ˈnɔn ˈnaŋ.kwɔm ˈi.əs ˈməʉ.dɑe ˈtem.pə.ɹə ˈɪn.sə.dənt ]

ut labóre et dolóre magnam aliquam quærat voluptátem.

Amer:[ ˈʌt ləˈbo.ɹi ˈɛt dəˈlo.ɹi ˈmæg.nəm ˈæ.lə.kwɑm ˈkwɪ.ɹæt ˌvɑ.ləpˈteɪ.təm ]

Brit:[ ˈʌt ləˈbo.ɹɪ ˈɛt dəˈlɔ.ɹɪ ˈmæg.nəm ˈæ.lə.kwɒm ˈkwɪ.ɹæt ˌvɒ.ləpˈteɪ.tɛm ]

Aust:[ ˈat ləˈbo.ɹɪ ˈet dəˈlo.ɹɪ ˈmæg.nəm ˈæ.lə.kwɔm ˈkwi.ɹæt ˌvɔ.ləpˈtæɪ.təm ]

[edit] Elections of the Holy Roman Emperors

[edit] Elections of 1314

Dates: October 19 and October 20, 1314

Place: Frankfurt

Elected: and Louis V

[edit] Election of 1346

Date:

Place:

Electors:

  • Walram von Jülich, Elector of Cologne (1332-1349)

Elected: Charles IV, King of Germany.

[edit] Election of 1348

Date: January 10, 1348

Place: Lahnstein

Elected: Edward III of England

This gathering of electors chose the King of England (then recently victorious in his war with France) as King in opposition to Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor.

Edward resigned the crown on May 10, 1348.

[edit] Election of 1349

Date: January 30, 1349

Place: Frankfurt

Electors:

  • Gerlach von Nassau, Elector of Mainz (1346-1371)
  • Rudolph II, Elector Palatine (1329-1353)
  • Elector of Saxony(-Lauenburg)
  • Louis, Elector of Brandenburg

Elected: Günther von Schwarzburg

Günther of Schwarzburg died on June 14, 1349.

[edit] Comets

Comets have, through the centuries, appeared in numerous works of fiction. In earliest times they were seen as portents, either of disaster or of some great historical change. As knowledge of comets increased, comets came to be imagined not just as symbols, but as powerful forces in their own right, capable of causing disaster. In recent years, comets have been perceived as destinations.

[edit] Fictional comets

[edit] Comets as signs

  • Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis' Lettre sur la comète (1742) mentions:
    « Ces astres, après avoir été si longtemps la terreur du monde, sont tombés tout à coup dans un tel discrédit, qu'on ne les croit plus capables de causer que des rhumes. »
    Roughly translated: « These stars, after having been the terror of the world for such a long time, have suddenly fallen in such discredit that they are not thought to be able to cause anything but colds. »

[edit] Comets as destructive

  • Voltaire, in his Lettre sur la prétendue comète (1773), comments ironically on the rumours of impending doom surrounding Lalande's presentation to the Académie des sciences of his "Réflexions sur les comètes qui peuvent approcher de la Terre".
  • Poe's The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion (1839) is an end-of-the-world story involving a comet that steals the nitrogen from Earth's atmosphere, the remaining oxygen causing our fiery end.
  • Camille Flammarion's La Fin du Monde (The End of the World, 1894) describes a 24th-century collision of a comet with Earth.
  • Tove Jansson's Comet in Moominland (1946) depicts the world of the Moomins threatened by a fiery comet.
  • The Paramount/DreamWorks motion picture Deep Impact (1998) tells the story of a comet (Wolf-Biederman) on a collision course with Earth, and focuses primarily on the emotional reactions of those who are affected by the impending disaster.

[edit] Other properties of comets

  • Edgar Allan Poe, for his The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall (1835), needed to supply his protagonist with a breathable atmosphere for is balloon trip to the Moon. He mentions the slowing down of Encke's Comet as proof of the existence of that atmosphere.
  • H. G. Wells' In the Days of the Comet (1905) is an account of how the vapours of a comet's tail cause an instantaneous worldwide utopian society.
  • In Dan Simmons' Hyperion universe (1989), Ouster orbital forest rings make use of captured comets as irrigation devices; the orbital forest receives water and other important supplies from passing 'shepherd' comets.

[edit] Comets of the past

[edit] Comets as vehicles

  • Verne's Hector Servadac, Voyages et aventures à travers le Monde Solaire (Off on a Comet, 1877) is a Victorian vision of touring the solar system via handy "comet Gallia".

[edit] Film and television

  • The plot of the film Maximum Overdrive (1986) involves radiation from the tail of a passing comet, causing every machine on Earth to come to life and become homicidal, although at the end of the film it is hinted that the phenomenon was caused by a UFO.
  • In the TV series Millennium (1996), a fictional double-tailed comet, P1997 Vansen-West, features occasionally during the second season.
  • In the Friends episode entitled "The One Where They're Up All Night" (2001), Ross Geller takes the group on the roof of their apartment to view the Bapstein/King comet.
  • Comet Yano-Moore is a fictional comet invented for the BBC science fiction series Space Odyssey: Voyage To The Planets (2004) and named after and as a tribute to the British astronomer Patrick Moore and the Japanese astronomer Hajime Yano.
  • In Avatar: The Last Airbender, Sozin's comet is a comet that passes about every 100 years and increased the power of Firebending immensely.
  • In the film Night of the Comet, the Earth passes through the tail of a comet, dooming all human and animal life except for those who happened to be completely enclosed inside metal containers at the time of the rendezvous.
  • In The Simpsons episode "Bart's Comet", a comet that Bart discovers is going to collide with Springfield. However, it breaks up on contact with Springfield's densely polluted atmosphere.

[edit] Games

  • In the fictional world of Myth (1997), featured in the Bungie made computer game of the same name, every thousand years the world moves from an age of light, to an age of darkness and vice-versa, brought about by war. Every time this has happened, a great comet has been observed in the sky.
  • In the game Shadow The Hedgehog (2001), a special comet holding the game's main enemies (the black arms) is the black comet. It is used to spread a gas across the planet that paralyses any non-black arm so the spawn can eat them.

[edit] Halley's Comet

As the first-discovered periodic comet, and the best known by name, Halley's comet has a prominent place in fiction:

[edit] Literature

  • In Heart of the Comet, a 1986 novel by Gregory Benford and David Brin, a multinational team colonizes Halley's Comet, building a habitat within the ice.
  • Arthur C. Clarke's novel 2061: Odyssey Three (1987) includes a detailed description of a manned mission to Halley's Comet.
  • Spider Robinson's short story "The Gifts of the Magistrate" deals with the trial of a woman who altered the orbit of Halley's Comet to try to save the life of her friend Clement Samuels, who believed that he, like Samuel Clemens(a.k.a. Mark Twain), having been born during one appearance of the comet, was doomed to die during the next.

[edit] Comics

  • In the popular comic strip, Calvin and Hobbes, Calvin ascribes the end of the world to the passing of Halley's Comet. When Hobbes rebukes him on this, however, he defeatedly sets about starting his homework.

[edit] Television

  • In the 1966 episode of the TV series The Time Tunnel, entitled "End of the World", the main characters time travel back to 1910 and witness the hysteria generated by the comet. Interestingly, the episode portrays the people afraid of a collision with the comet rather than the "poison gas" from the comet's tail.
  • In the Futurama episode "A Taste Of Freedom", it is mentioned that Earth once fought a war "to take back Halley's Comet". Comet Halley has also been mined for water ice in another episode.
  • The Doctor Who serial "Attack of the Cybermen" features the titular villains planning to devastate Earth by steering the comet into the planet.
  • In an episode of the Nickelodeon TV series Hey Arnold!, Arnold and Gerald urge the city to turn off the lights so they can see the comet.
  • In The Simpsons episode "Bart the Mother", the family is waiting for eggs to hatch, when Homer says: "This is the most exciting thing I've seen since Halley's Comet collided with the moon!"
  • In the Disney Channel TV series American Dragon Jake Long episode "Hero of the Hourglass", Jake goes back in time to tell his dad about the magical world at a beach picnic for Halley's Comet.
  • In the Supernatural episode "Dead Man's Blood" it is revealed that Samuel Colt made a gun with mystical properties "back in 1835, when Halley's comet was overhead."
  • In "Comet Watch", a 1986 episode of Tales from the Darkside, Englebert Ames, an astronomer, is watching Halley's Comet and is in for a shock when Sir Edmond Halley himself arrives - he's been riding "his" comet all these years trying to elude Sarah, the woman pursuing him out of obsessed love.

[edit] Movies

  • In the 2005 South Korean film "Heaven's Soldiers" (Korean: "Cheon gun"), the appearance of Halley's Comet causes the protagonists - North and South Korean soldiers engaged in a life-and-death struggle - to go back to 1572, the time of the comet's earlier passage, and become involved in heroic phases of 16th Century Korean history.
  • In the movie TMNT Halley's Comet is mentioned by Michelangelo. In reply to Donatello's explaining of how the monsters are coming to New York, Michelangelo says: "Oh, so it's like Halley's Comet, only monsters come out?"

[edit] Games

  • In Famicom game Jesus: Dreadful Bio-Monster, Halley's Comet has been approaching Earth for quite some time, and the nations of Earth send a mission to investigate the Comet, as some form of life has been detected inside the gas of the comet.
  • In the computer game Shadow of the Comet, the passing of the Comet, combined with a special vantage point, is the only time (presumably) certain entities can be summoned.

[edit] Comet Kohoutek

Kohoutek was a much-publicized comet of 1973.

[edit] Comics

  • In the comic strip Gordo by Gus Arriola, the title character occasionally drove a taxi named El Cometa Halley. During the media hype over Comet Kohoutek a rival taxi appeared named Cometa Kohoutek that tended to beat Gordo to his customers.
  • In December 1973, Snoopy and Woodstock saw Comet Kohoutek in the sky and mistook it for a sign that the world was coming to an end.

[edit] Television

  • On an episode of The Simpsons, principal Skinner comments that he once missed the chance to name a comet after himself, vowing revenge on "Principal Kohoutek... him and that boy of his!"

Astronomical locations in fiction

Category:Comets| Category:Solar System in fiction Category:Planets in fiction Category:Astronomical locations in fiction Category:In popular culture