by Ann » Thu Feb 14, 2019 2:05 am
Ancient Mars with an ocean.
NASA / GSFC
All hemispheres are not created equal. If Mars ever had an ocean, it would have been located in the northern hemisphere, because that is where you find the lowlands of Mars. On Earth, I think there is a little more land north of the equator than south of it.
In any case, most of the great civilizations of the Earth have arisen north of the equator: Sumer, Egypt, China, Greece, Rome, Spain, France and England. Of course you know that, Nit.
The Earth. Photo: NASA/Apollo 17.
But of course we are biased when we think of the Earth, and when most map-makers make depictions of the Earth, they focus on the "central parts" of it, which to most of them is the northern hemisphere. But the Earth itself has no such preferences. A great reminder is the gorgeous photos of Earth from space. I think the picture at right is especially stunning, but look at the "face" that the Earth is showing us here: Africa, Saudi Arabia and Antarctica. There aren't many maps that focus on Earth like that.
Then again, even this stunning picture is biased. Because there is no reason why NASA couldn't have shown us the Earth with "Antarctica up".
Ann
[float=left][img2]https://media4.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2015_10/917836/150305-space-mars_f8bbdd65f3a26474bb099dcccdbcd940.fit-760w.jpg[/img2][c][size=85]Ancient Mars with an ocean.
NASA / GSFC[/size][/c][/float]
All hemispheres are not created equal. If Mars ever had an ocean, it would have been located in the northern hemisphere, because that is where you find the lowlands of Mars. On Earth, I think there is a little more land north of the equator than south of it.
In any case, most of the great civilizations of the Earth have arisen north of the equator: Sumer, Egypt, China, Greece, Rome, Spain, France and England. Of course you know that, Nit.
[float=right][img2]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/97/The_Earth_seen_from_Apollo_17.jpg/767px-The_Earth_seen_from_Apollo_17.jpg[/img2][c][size=85]The Earth. Photo: NASA/Apollo 17.[/size][/c][/float]
But of course we are biased when we think of the Earth, and when most map-makers make depictions of the Earth, they focus on the "central parts" of it, which to most of them is the northern hemisphere. But the Earth itself has no such preferences. A great reminder is the gorgeous photos of Earth from space. I think the picture at right is especially stunning, but look at the "face" that the Earth is showing us here: Africa, Saudi Arabia and Antarctica. There aren't many maps that focus on Earth like that.
Then again, even this stunning picture is biased. Because there is no reason why NASA couldn't have shown us the Earth with "Antarctica up".
Ann