Ithaca Chasma

Ithaca Chasma is a valley (graben) on Saturn's moon Tethys, named after the island of Ithaca, in Greece. It is up to 100 km wide, 3 to 5 km deep and 2,000 km long, running approximately three-quarters of the way around Tethys' circumference, making it one of the longer valleys in the Solar System. Ithaca Chasma is approximately concentric with Odysseus crater.

Ithaca Chasma may have originated when the water ocean inside Tethys froze. This would have caused the surface to crack in order to accommodate the resulting increase in volume. Another hypothesis is that Ithaca Chasma is the outermost ring of the Odysseus impact basin. The Chasma is 4 to 0.4 billion years old, and slightly older than Odysseus.

Discovery

Ithaca Chasma was discovered by Voyager 1 spacecraft on 12 November 1980 during its flyby of Saturn. However its full extent was realized only in 1981 after the Voyager 2 flyby. It was named after the island of Ithaca, in Greece.

Geology

Ithaca Chasma is a giant trough system about 3 km deep and approximately confined to a great circle running through the poles of Tethys. It is approximately concentric with Odysseus impact crater—a pole of Ithaca Chasma lies only approximately 20° from it.

Ithaca

Ithaca or Ithaka (/ˈɪθəkə/; Greek: Ιθάκη, Ithakē [iˈθaci]) is a Greek island located in the Ionian Sea, off the northeast coast of Kefalonia and to the west of continental Greece.

Ithaca has an area of 120 square kilometres (46 sq mi) and a little more than three thousand inhabitants. It is the second-smallest of seven main Ionian Islands, after Paxi. Ithaka is a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and the only municipality of the regional unit. The capital, Vathy or Ithaki, has one of the world's largest natural harbours.

Modern Ithaca is generally identified with Homer's Ithaca, the home of Odysseus, whose delayed return to the island is one of the elements of the Odyssey's plot.

Etymology

The fact that classical Greek authors often used eponymous explanations to explain away names through folk etymology makes it more likely that Ithakos derives from Ithaca rather than vice versa.

Although the name Ithaca has remained unchanged since ancient times, written documents of different periods also refer to the city by other names, such as:

Technology of the Dune universe

The technology of the Dune universe is a key aspect of the fictional setting of the Dune series of science fiction novels written by Frank Herbert, and derivative works. Herbert's concepts and inventions have been analyzed and deconstructed in at least one book, The Science of Dune (2008). Herbert's originating 1965 novel Dune is popularly considered one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time, and is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history.Dune and its five sequels by Herbert explore the complex and multilayered interactions of politics, religion, ecology and technology, among other themes.

The Butlerian Jihad, an event in the back-story of Herbert's universe, leads to the outlawing of certain technologies, primarily "thinking machines", a collective term for computers and artificial intelligence of any kind. This prohibition is a key influence on the nature of Herbert's fictional setting. In Dune, ten thousand years after this jihad, its enduring commandment remains:

Ithaca (film)

Ithaca is a 2015 American drama film directed by Meg Ryan and written by Erik Jendresen. It is based on the 1943 novel The Human Comedy by William Saroyan. The film stars Meg Ryan, Sam Shepard, Hamish Linklater, Jack Quaid, Alex Neustaedter and Christine Nelson.

Cast

Production

On January 29, 2014, it was announced Meg Ryan would direct Ithaca, a film based on the 1943 novel The Human Comedy by William Saroyan, with Ryan, Sam Shepard, Hamish Linklater, and Ryan’s son Jack Quaid starring in the film. On June 25, 2014, Tom Hanks joined the cast.Principal photography began on July 21, 2014, and ended on August 22, 2014. It was filmed in Petersburg, Virginia, & also some opening scenes of the film were shot on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad.