USGS Astrogeology Hot Topics

Modeling Mars' surface in search of ancient rivers and oceans

Was there ever life on Mars? Many would like to believe that we used to have relatives who lived nearby. The likelihood that life existed on Mars is higher than for any other planet in the solar system. Because all known forms of life require water, the evidence that water once flowed on Mars is essential to prove that life existed there. Conversely, the possibility of life cannot definitely be rejected unless it is conclusively demonstrated that there was never water in a liquid form on Mars.

Posted by Ryan Raub in Astrogeology at 16:00

The IAU has approved 33 new names for surface features on Tethys. The new names include 31 craters, one chasma, and one montes. Please visit the Tethys section of the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature for more information.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 09:55

The IAU has approved the names Avire, Niquero, and Triolet for three small craters in quadrangle MC-24. For more information about these features, please visit the Mars section of the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 11:51

A digital cartographic Lunar Orbiter global mosaic is now available on Map a Planet. This mosaic was constructed using lunar data acquired by Lunar Orbiters III, IV, and V.

Posted by Ryan Raub in Lunar Orbiter at 13:53

The IAU has approved three new names for Titan surface features. Two of the "seas" near Titan's north pole have been named Kraken Mare and Ligeia Mare, and the large island in the northern part of Kraken Mare has been named Mayda Insula.

For more information about these new names, please visit the Titan portion of the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, and the image that shows the north pole region.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 08:50

The following new names have been approved by the IAU for use on Mercury.

Craters: Apollodorus, Atget, Cunningham, Eminescu, Kertész, Neruda, Raditladi, Sander, Sveinsdóttir, Xiao Zhao

Rupes: Beagle Rupes

Fossae: Pantheon Fossae

The newly approved theme for fossae on Mercury is "Significant works of architecture."

Please visit the Mercury section of the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature for more information.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 11:22

The IAU has approved a new name for a chaos feature, and defined new coordinates for a valles on Mars.

The name Chryse Chaos has been approved for the chaos feature located at 10.4N, 36.7W. The name Simud Vallis has been changed to the plural form of the descriptor term, Simud Valles, and the coordinates of the feature have been changed. Please see the listings in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature and the map of Mars quadrangle MC-11 for details.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 08:22

The IAU has approved 45 new names for surface features on Dione, including 34 craters, 3 catenae, 3 chasmata, 1 dorsa, and 4 fossae. Please see the list of Dione names in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature for more information.  

The following five changes to existing names were also approved:

Amata was moved to a smaller, well-defined crater.

Carthage Linea was changed to Carthage Fossae.

Cassandra was moved to a smaller, well-defined crater.

Padua Linea was changed to Padua Chasmata.

The length of Palatine Chasmata was amended and the descriptor term was changed to the plural form.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 13:11

The name Minona Corona has been approved for the corona located at 23.5N, 218.5E. Please see the list of Venus feature names and the map of Venus quadrangle V-27 in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature for more information.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 09:31

The names Phedra, Tavua, and Zaranj have been approved for small Martian craters. Please see the list of Martian crater names and the map of MC-14 in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature for more information.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 10:57

A crater on Titan located at 7.0N, 199.0W has been named Selk for the Egyptian goddess of knowledge, writing, education, and reptiles. See the Titan list of craters and images in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature for more information.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 08:48

The name Camilla has been approved for a crater (4.41S, 60.0W, 31.2 km) on Dione. Please see the list of craters on Dione in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature for more information.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 08:59

The name Encke Division, part of Saturn's ring nomenclature, has been changed to Encke Gap in order to conform to the definiton of divisions and gaps recently posted on the Ring and Ring Gap Nomenclature page of the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 07:01

Five new names (Coimbra, Kalocsa, Mellit, Naruko, and Penticton) have been approved for craters on Mars. Please see the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature for details.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 07:51

A 70 km crater on Mars, located at 6.57N, 345.73W, has been named for the American astronomer Charles F. Capen. Please see the map of MC-12 and the list of Martian feature names in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature for more information.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 07:46