By Galle, Mars has another smiley face crater!

I've long been enamored of the Martian crater Galle in Argyre Planitia (below). Known (for obvious reasons) as the "smiley face crater," it has always seemed to me strong evidence that God has a sense of humor. Imaged by three seperate Mars missions- Viking, Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Express- it's been a kind of inside joke among astronomy buffs for years.

Although I hadn't heard about it, it seems that back in 2008 the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter discovered another "smiley face crater" (above) in the Neredium Mountains, north of the Argyre basin. Not quite two miles across, it's considerably smaller than Galle. It does not yet have a name, but one planetary scientist has expressed a preference for the newcomer on the ground that "it's goofier."

One of the most amusing things about the Galle crater is the frantic attempts by the more humorless (and less imaginative) in the astronomical community to pretend that, like the famous "Face on Mars" in Cydonia, the "smiley face" is an optical illusion. It is not. While it's possible to take pictures of it from angles which obscure certain features, the "face" is, in fact, there.

What does it mean? Absolutely nothing.

That's why it's good for a chuckle. I really think the would-be debunkers would be much better off if they could just learn to at least smile once in a while.

Like these two Martian craters.