USGS Astrogeology Hot Topics

The Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved new names for two craters on Mars: Muara and Tarrafal. For more information, see the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 12:27

The Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved new names for five valles on Mercury: Angkor Vallis, Cahokia Vallis, Caral Vallis, Paestum Vallis, and Timgad Vallis. For more information, see the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 12:21

The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved the name Farah Vallis for a valley on Mars. For more information, see the map of MC-23 in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 11:56

The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved some changes for Mercury nomenclature. Arecibo Vallis has been changed to Arecibo Catena, Goldstone Vallis has been changed to Goldstone Catena, Haystack Vallis has been changed to Haystack Catena, and Simeiz Vallis has been dropped. The theme for catenae on Mercury is "Radio telescope facilities," and the theme for valles is "Abandoned cities (or towns or settlements) of antiquity." For more information, see the feature categories in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 14:19

The 1:1 million-scale maps of the Moon in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature now show the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Wide Angle Camera (WAC) global morphologic map as the base. Previous versions of the maps used the USGS shaded relief and color-coded topography and the USGS Lunar Orbiter mosaics as the base. The previous versions are no longer supported; URLs that linked to these versions have been redirected to the current maps with the LROC WAC image base. For more information, see the page that describes these maps in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 12:51

The Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved new names for nine craters on Mercury: Alver, Donelaitis, Flaiano, Hurley, L'Engle, Lovecraft, Pahinui, Petőfi, and Roerich. For more information, see the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 09:24

The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved the names Urmia Lacus and Sionascaig Lacus for use on Titan. For more information, see the IAU Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 09:48

The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved new names for two features on Mars: Candor Sulci and Nia Tholus. For more information, see the IAU Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 11:03

The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved the name Farim for a crater on Mars. For more information, see the map of MC-29 in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 09:07

The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved the name Tana Vallis for a valley on Mars. For more information, see the map of MC-11 in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 09:08

The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved new names for two features on Mars: Aonia Mons and Aonia Tholus. For more information, see the IAU Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 10:48

The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved the name Vid Flumina for a channel on Titan. For more information, see the IAU Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 11:47

The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved the name Lucaya for a crater on Mars. For more information, see the map of MC-21 in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 11:19

The Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved nine new names for craters on Mercury: Catullus, Disney, Hopper, Joplin, Kobro, Komeda, Kyōsai, Popova, and Waters. For more information, see the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 11:47

The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved names for five colles on Titan (Arwen Colles, Bilbo Colles, Faramir Colles, Handir Colles, and Nimloth Colles). The feature formerly called Sotra Facula has been changed to Sotra Patera. For more information, see this image of Titan in the IAU Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Posted by Jennifer Blue in Planetary Nomenclature at 09:00