Tiny Planets Mirror Magic

Tiny Planets was shown on ITV in its country of origin, the United Kingdom. On April 1, 2002, the original version with English graphics premiered on Noggin (now Nick Jr. ) in the United States as 5-minute segments between shows; it was expanded to a half-hour show in early June 2004, and was shown until April 9, 2006. Nick Jr. in the United States had the show’s rerun from September 28, 2009 until December 18, 2011. It also aired on ABC in Australia, K-T. V. World in South Africa, BFBS in Germany as well as Belize, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and Bosnia and Herzegovina, TV3 in New Zealand, Kids Central in Singapore, JimJam in Malta, e-Junior in the Emirates, TVB Pearl in Hong Kong as well as Macau, Disney Channel in Asia and CBC in Canada. Localized versions were aired on Super RTL in Germany, NRK in Norway, HRT in Croatia, NHK in Japan, UBC Kids in Thailand, SBS in Korea, Astro Ria in Malaysia, Italia 1 in Italy, Discovery Kids in Latin America, and Televisa in Mexico.


As expected, coming in a range of materials means that there is extensive flexibility with respect to colour choice. Throughout their history the Moon Boot has always been a bright and happy addition to any winter wardrobe and now is no different. Colour examples include neutral and subtle tones such as ochre, grey, dark brown, black and ice through to light pink, violet, azure, petrol blue, orange and sea green. More conspicuous colours consist of silver, ivory, burgundy, bouganville, apricot, red and yellow especially since some also come in a metallic finish. For this reason, astronomers have for years considered the possibility that hydrocarbon lakes and seas might exist on the surface of this misty moisty moon. The data derived from Cassini/Huygens validated this prediction. During its long and productive mission, now over, Cassini revealed that almost 2% of Titan's entire bizarre surface is coated wth gasoline-like liquids. However, it was little Enceladus that gave astronomers their greatest shock. Even though the existence of Enceladus has been known since it was discovered by William Herschel in 1789, its enchantingly weird character was not fully appreciated until this century. Indeed, until the Voyagers flew past it, little was known about the moon. However, Enceladus has always been considered one of the more interesting members of Saturn's abundantly moonstruck family, for a number of very good reasons. First of all, it is amazingly bright. The quantity of sunlight that an object in our Solar System reflects back is termed its albedo, and this is calculated primarily by the color of the object's ground coating. The albedo of the dazzling Enceladus is almost a mirror-like 100%. Basically, this means that the surface of the little moon is richly covered with ice crystals--and that these crystals are regularly and frequently replenished. When the Voyagers flew over Enceladus in the 1980s, they found that the object was indeed abundantly coated with glittering ice. It was also being constantly, frequently repaved. Immense basins and valleys were filled with pristine white, fresh snow. Craters were cut in half--one side of the crater remaining a visible cavity pockmarking the moon's surface, and the other side completely buried in the bright, white snow. Remarkably, Enceladus circles Saturn within its so-called E ring, which is the widest of the planet's numerous rings. Just behind the moon is a readily-observed bulge within that ring, that astronomers determined was the result of the sparkling emission emanating from icy volcanoes (cryovolcanoes) that follow Enceladus wherever it wanders around its parent planet. The cryovolanoes studding Enceladus are responsible for the frequent repaving of its surface. In 2008, Cassini confirmed that the cryovolanic stream was composed of ordinary water, laced with carbon dioxide, potassium salts, carbon monoxide, and a plethora of other organic materials. Tidal squeezing, caused by Saturn and the nearby sister moons Dione and Tethys, keep the interior of Enceladus pleasantly warm, and its water in a liquid state--thus allowing the cryovolcanoes to keep spewing out their watery eruptions. The most enticing mystery, of course, is determining exactly how much water Enceladus holds. Is there merely a lake-sized body of water, or a sea, or a global ocean? The more water there is, the more it will circulate and churn--and the more Enceladus quivers and shakes, the more likely it is that it can brew up a bit of life.