The Earth’s Bulls-Eye

The image above, taken from Wikipedia, is a sattelite image.  But it is not of the Great Red Spot of Jupiter.  It’s not from Jupiter at all, or for that matter, Saturn, Uranus, or Neptune.  It is from Earth — specifically, in the Sahara Desert, near Mauritania.  Called the Richat Structure, it is, from outer space, a terrestrial bulls-eye.

At nearly 50 kilometers (roughly 30 miles) in diameter wide, the Richat Structure is an odd series ofanticlines — folds of earth which being at the planet’s core — which have eroded over time, creating rings of sand, bedrock, etc.  (Per NASA, why the structure is circular in shape is a mystery.)  Want to visit?  You can — and you can stay overnight, at what some term a “hotel” in the middle of the faux “target.”  But do not expect a five-star experience — the abodes there are, at best, rudimentary wooden huts.  And getting there is difficult at best: there is no regular transportation to the center of the Richat Structure.

More photos (and an image explaining what an anticline is) are available at Kuriositas.

Bonus fact: The town of St. Paul, Alberta, Canada, has a population of roughly 5,000, but is actively seeking immigrants — from outer space.  In 1967, the town built a bulls-eye of their own: the first-ever UFO landing pad, pictured here.  From space, it is less impressive than the Richat Structure.

From the Archives: The Fly on the Urinal: Target practice for human males.

Entirely unrelated really cool product: The infinity mirror.  Take a mirror, then a layer of LED lights, then add a one-way mirror with mirrored side facing in.  What happens?  This video demonstrates.  The mirror (square), on Amazon, is $47.50.