 Photographed by theMars Global Surveyor, 1999-03-10 | |
| Planet | Mars |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°12′S30°54′W / 51.2°S 30.9°W /-51.2; -30.9 |
| Quadrangle | Argyre |
| Diameter | 230.0 km |
| Eponym | Johann Gottfried Galle |
Galle is acrater onMars. It is located on the eastern rim of the hugeimpact basinArgyre Planitia inArgyre quadrangle. It is named after the GermanastronomerJohann Gottfried Galle.[1] Galle is often known as the "happy face crater" becausepareidolia causes a curvedmountain range in the southern part of the crater and two smaller mountain clusters further north to appear to be asmiley face. The formation was first photographed byViking Orbiter 1 in 1976.[2]
A second "happy face crater", smaller than Galle and located at 45.1°S, 55.0°W inNereidum Montes, was discovered by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on January 28, 2008.[3]
As the smiley is a keymotif in thecomic bookWatchmen byAlan Moore andDave Gibbons, 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."[4] The crater also appears in the same scene during thefilm adaptation.
