There remains some non-human related reasons to visit our solar system;
Asimov in his foundation novels posited the rings of Saturn might be especially unusual. We may not know for sure for a very long time.
Total solar eclipses as seen from the earth's surface are TRULY spectacular. The odds of very many comfortable planets having the combination of close proximity to a reasonably active G2 star and a huge, but distant, satellite aligned properly in orbit and inclination, etc. are VERY VERY tiny indeed.
The solar system contains 2 planets, Jupiter and Uranus, that are scaled to each other; mass of the planets and their 4 largest satellites and their orbits. It's not known if it's a coincidence, of it there is some subtlety in planet formation that 'prefers' the similarities.
Rainbows, so far, appear unique to earth. (Venus is too screwed up atmosphere wise, and the great distances from the sun takes the 'punch' out of rainbows on the gas giants. We're 3 billion years too late to see rainbows on Mars.
We occasionally get to see a spectacular naked eye comet from the earth's surface, our proximity to the sun makes them bright if they are large and/or close to the earth
Our moon is a weird goomer too. For it's size relative to it's planet (earth) it is enormous. It is also unusually distant for such a big one. It is so far out, in fact, that the sun's gravity impinging upon it is ~twice what earth can do. No other sizable moon in the solar system can make that claim.
The tides in earth's oceans are unusual too. The strengthening and weakening of the tides we see at the beach depending on the angles between where the sun and the moon are is a unique phenomenon to earth. You need deep oceans, proximity to a star (our sun in this case) and that weirdly huge satellite we have to make tides with the spring and neap effects.
For aliens into unusual planetary characteristics, our solar system is quite interesting. We are starting to see some other planetary systems now, and they have characteristics we might find 'weird' but curiously, many of those characteristics; planets of all sizes very very close to their stars, or planets in resonance with each other, for instance, turn out to be not rare.
Asimov in his foundation novels posited the rings of Saturn might be especially unusual. We may not know for sure for a very long time.
Total solar eclipses as seen from the earth's surface are TRULY spectacular. The odds of very many comfortable planets having the combination of close proximity to a reasonably active G2 star and a huge, but distant, satellite aligned properly in orbit and inclination, etc. are VERY VERY tiny indeed.
The solar system contains 2 planets, Jupiter and Uranus, that are scaled to each other; mass of the planets and their 4 largest satellites and their orbits. It's not known if it's a coincidence, of it there is some subtlety in planet formation that 'prefers' the similarities.
Rainbows, so far, appear unique to earth. (Venus is too screwed up atmosphere wise, and the great distances from the sun takes the 'punch' out of rainbows on the gas giants. We're 3 billion years too late to see rainbows on Mars.
We occasionally get to see a spectacular naked eye comet from the earth's surface, our proximity to the sun makes them bright if they are large and/or close to the earth
Our moon is a weird goomer too. For it's size relative to it's planet (earth) it is enormous. It is also unusually distant for such a big one. It is so far out, in fact, that the sun's gravity impinging upon it is ~twice what earth can do. No other sizable moon in the solar system can make that claim.
The tides in earth's oceans are unusual too. The strengthening and weakening of the tides we see at the beach depending on the angles between where the sun and the moon are is a unique phenomenon to earth. You need deep oceans, proximity to a star (our sun in this case) and that weirdly huge satellite we have to make tides with the spring and neap effects.
For aliens into unusual planetary characteristics, our solar system is quite interesting. We are starting to see some other planetary systems now, and they have characteristics we might find 'weird' but curiously, many of those characteristics; planets of all sizes very very close to their stars, or planets in resonance with each other, for instance, turn out to be not rare.
The granting of a pardon is an imputation of guilt, and the acceptance a confession of it.
