Cydonia (region of Mars)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Cydonia is a region of Mars containing several hills which has attracted attention because one of the hills resembles a human face, while others resemble pyramids. The phenomena have attracted both scientific and popular interest. The name originally referred to an albedo feature (distinctively coloured area) that was visible from earthbound telescopes. Today, the name covers three named regions on Mars: "Cydonia Mensae", an area of flat-topped mesa-like features, "Cydonia Colles", a region of small hills or knobs, and "Cydonia Labyrinthus", a complex of intersecting valleys. As with other albedo features on Mars, the name Cydonia was drawn from classical antiquity, in this case from Kydonia, a historic polis (or "city-state") on the island of Crete.
In popular culture
Aside from speculation concerning their artificial origins, Cydonia and the "Face on Mars" also appear frequently in popular culture, including feature films, television series, video games, comic books, and even popular music. For example: Films featuring the structures include Mission to Mars (2000); TV series include The X-Files ("Space", 1993), Futurama ("Where The Buggalo Roam", 2002), Phineas and Ferb ("Unfair Science Fair", 2009); Video games include Zak McKracken (1988), X-COM: UFO Defense (1993); Comic books include Martian Manhunter (#1, 1998); and Music includes Telemetry of a Fallen Angel by The Crüxshadows (1995), "Knights of Cydonia" by Muse (2006), "Hunting and Gathering (Cydonia)" by Sunn O))) (2009).
See also
- Galle, a Martian crater also known as the "Happy face" or "Smile" of Mars
- Geography of Mars
- Life on Mars
- Pareidolia
