Weird Iapetus

Most of us have heard the strange historical speculations and contemporary fringe theories about our own Moon and Mars. It seems as our knowledge of ever farther celestial bodies expand, so does our curiosity and wild imagination. Iapetus, one of Saturn’s larger moons, currently enjoys conjectures that can only be called bizarre. From a rich place in science fiction, most notably as the site of the monolith in Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, the moon has taken on a life of its own in the communities of conspiracy theorists and pseudo-scientists.

Most of these odd ideas imply artificial structures on Iapetus exist, covered up by NASA. However, none is as exhaustive as Richard C. Hoagland’s article suggesting that the entire moon itself is an artificial construct left by some ancient, bygone intelligence. In Hoagland’s mind, Iapetus’ unusual shape, central ridge, and geographic features are just weird enough to serve as evidence for his theory. The above link is, if anything else, an interesting read if you have some time to kill. It is also rich in images of Iapetus and diagrams attempting to illustrate Hoagland’s hypothesis.

Whatever the case, the moons of the gas giants which we are just beginning to understand (and photograph in detail) will continue to generate weird musings and fanciful speculations for many decades.

-Namtlieu