Last week a friend passed along this blog entry from Wired Science to me. The images are maps charting geological materials and phenomena on the moon, Venus, Mercury, Mars and Galilean satellites. The random shapes, patterns and coloring compose gorgeous patterns that only nature can create. They are reminiscent of modern works of art as well as Japanese woodblock prints.

Also interesting on the Wired post are the comments that followed the maps: An equal mix of people in awe and people absolutely dumbfounded by the fact that others found beauty in “facts and information.” As my friend reminded me, those two sides of the brain are so seperated for most people. What a shame that is, for when the two cross wonderful things come to be…

Please view many more celestial maps (high-res PDFs to boot!) at the U.S. Geological Survey. Enjoy!

The image above is the Geologic Map of the Uruk Sulcus Quadrangle of Ganymede (Jg-8)

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