Cthulhu Regio
Cthulhu Regio /ˈkᵊθuːluː ˈriːdʒi.oʊ/ is a prominent surface feature of the dwarf planet Pluto, that is reminiscent of a whale in shape. It is an elongated dark region along Pluto's equator, 2,990 km (1,860 mi) long and one of the darkest features on Pluto. It is west of the Sputnik Planum region of Tombaugh Regio, also known as Pluto's "heart", and to the east of Meng-P'o, the easternmost of Pluto's "Brass Knuckles".
Description
The dark color of the region is speculated to be the result of a "tar" made of complex hydrocarbons called tholins covering the surface, which form from methane and nitrogen in the atmosphere interacting with ultraviolet light and cosmic rays. Tholins have been observed on other planetary bodies, such as Iapetus, Umbriel, and in the atmosphere of Titan, although the irregular and disconnected nature of the dark spots on Pluto has not yet been explained. The presence of craters within Cthulhu indicates that it is perhaps billions of years old, in contrast to the adjacent bright, craterless Sputnik Planum, which may be as little as 100 million years old. Higher-resolution images of the border between the two regions indicate that lighter material from Sputnik Planum, composed of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane ices, may be invading and overlaying the easternmost part of the dark Cthulhu Regio. As of 30 July 2015, the eastern "head" region had been imaged in much higher resolution than the western "tail" region.
Cthulhu
Cthulhu is a cosmic entity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft and first introduced in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1928. Considered a Great Old One within the pantheon of Lovecraftian cosmic entities, the creature has since been featured in numerous popular culture references. Lovecraft depicts Cthulhu as a gigantic entity worshiped by cultists. Cthulhu's anatomy is described as part octopus, part man, and part dragon. Its name was given to the Lovecraft-created universe where it and its fellow entities existed, the Cthulhu Mythos.
Etymology, spelling and pronunciation
Though invented by Lovecraft in 1926 the name Cthulhu is probably derived from the Classic Greek word chthonic meaning "subterranean", as apparently suggested by Lovecraft himself at the end of his 1923 tale The Rats in the Walls.
Cthulhu has also been spelled as Tulu, Clulu, Clooloo, Cthulu, Cthullu, C'thulhu, Cighulu, Cathulu, C'thlu, Kathulu, Kutulu, Kthulhu, Kthulu, Q’thulu, K'tulu, Kthulhut, Kutu, Kulhu, Kutunluu, Ktulu, Cuitiliú, Cqulu, Thu Thu and in many other ways. It is often preceded by the epithet Great, Dead, or Dread.
Cthulhu (2007 film)
Cthulhu is a 2007 American horror film directed by Dan Gildark and co-written by Grant Cogswell and Daniel Gildark. The film is loosely based on the novella The Shadow over Innsmouth (1936) by H. P. Lovecraft.
The film moves the story from New England to the Pacific Northwest. The film is notable for having a gay protagonist. Screenwriter Grant Cogswell explained that he and Gildark chose to exploit the metaphor for the horror faced by a gay person returning for a relative's funeral and having to face the horrors of small-town life.
The film premiered June 14, 2007 at the Seattle International Film Festival and officially opened in select theatrical venues August 22, 2008.
Plot summary
When young history professor Russ is called upon by his sister to execute their late mother's estate, he is reunited with boyhood friend Mike, and with his father, the charismatic leader of a New Age cult. While exploring his memories, Russ wanders into a warehouse where hundreds of names are listed on the walls. As he sleeps that night, he dreams of a stone cudgel and awakens to find a cudgel in his motel room; the town drunk warns him that it is an instrument of sacrifice. A young liquor store clerk enlists him to help find her brother, whom she believes has been taken by the cult. Russ's aunt, who has been living in an asylum, tells him that his mother left a message hidden in her house.
Great inverted snub icosidodecahedron
In geometry, the great inverted snub icosidodecahedron is a uniform star polyhedron, indexed as U69. It is given a Schläfli symbol sr{5/3,3}.
Cartesian coordinates
Cartesian coordinates for the vertices of a great inverted snub icosidodecahedron are all the even permutations of
with an even number of plus signs, where
and
where τ = (1+√5)/2 is the golden mean and ξ is the greater positive real solution to ξ3−2ξ=−1/τ, or approximately 1.2224727. Taking the odd permutations of the above coordinates with an odd number of plus signs gives another form, the enantiomorph of the other one.
Related polyhedra
Great inverted pentagonal hexecontahedron
The great inverted pentagonal hexecontahedron is a nonconvex isohedral polyhedron. It is composed of 60 self-intersecting pentagonal faces, 150 edges and 92 vertices.
It is the dual of the uniform great inverted snub icosidodecahedron.
See also
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