Darian calendar Darian calendar The Darian calendar is a proposed system of time-keeping designed to serve the needs of any possible future human settlers on the planet Mars. It was created by aerospace engineer, political scientist, and space jurist Thomas Gangale in 1985 and named by him after his son Darius. It was first published in June 1986. The basic time periods from which the calendar is constructed are the Martian solar day (sometimes called a sol) and the Martian vernal equinox year, which is . The sol is 39 minutes 35.244 seconds longer than the Terrestrial solar day and the Martian
Minor planet asteroids. A minor planet seen releasing gas may be dually classified as a comet. Objects are called dwarf planets if their self-gravity is sufficient to achieve hydrostatic equilibrium and form an ellipsoidal shape. All other minor planets and comets are called "small Solar System bodies". The IAU stated that the term "minor planet" may still be used, but the term "small Solar System body" will be preferred. However, for purposes of numbering and naming, the traditional distinction between minor planet and comet is still used. Hundreds of thousands of minor planets have been discovered within the Solar System and thousands