USGS Astrogeology Hot Topics

New Name for a Crater on Mercury

nospam@example.com (Jennifer Blue) — 2013-06-13T22:20:00Z

The Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved the name Duccio for a crater on Mercury. For more information, see the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

New Names for Ten Rupes on Mercury

nospam@example.com (Jennifer Blue) — 2013-06-03T20:57:50Z

The Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved new names for ten rupēs on Mercury: Alvin Rupes, Belgica Rupes, Calypso Rupes, Carnegie Rupes, Duyfken Rupes, Eltanin Rupes, Enterprise Rupes, Nautilus Rupes, Palmer Rupes, and Terror Rupes. For more information, see the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

New Names for Seven Craters on Mars

nospam@example.com (Jennifer Blue) — 2013-06-03T16:19:05Z

The Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved new names for seven craters on Mars: Asau, Gunjur, Kalba, Neves, Obock, Quthing, and Wafra. For more information, see the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

New Names for Two Craters on Mars

nospam@example.com (Jennifer Blue) — 2013-05-31T14:35:20Z

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

New Name for a Lacus on Titan

nospam@example.com (Jennifer Blue) — 2013-05-24T17:13:42Z

The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved the name Ladoga Lacus for a lacus on Titan. For more information, see the image of the north pole region of Titan in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

New Names for Two Craters on Mars

nospam@example.com (Jennifer Blue) — 2013-05-06T19:27:05Z

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.

New Names for Five Valles on Mercury

nospam@example.com (Jennifer Blue) — 2013-04-30T19:21:20Z

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.

New Name Approved for a Vallis on Mars

nospam@example.com (Jennifer Blue) — 2013-04-03T18:56:23Z

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.

Changes to Valles and Catenae on Mercury

nospam@example.com (Jennifer Blue) — 2013-03-26T21:19:39Z

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.

New Image Base for 1:1 Million-Scale Lunar Maps

nospam@example.com (Jennifer Blue) — 2013-03-18T19:51:00Z

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.

Names Approved for Nine Craters on Mercury

nospam@example.com (Jennifer Blue) — 2013-03-15T16:24:09Z

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.

Two New Lacus Names for Titan

nospam@example.com (Jennifer Blue) — 2013-03-12T16:48:33Z

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.

Candor Sulci and Nia Tholus Approved on Mars

nospam@example.com (Jennifer Blue) — 2013-03-11T18:03:12Z

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.

Mars Crater Named Farim

nospam@example.com (Jennifer Blue) — 2013-03-11T16:07:26Z

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.

New Name for a Vallis on Mars

nospam@example.com (Jennifer Blue) — 2013-03-05T16:08:28Z

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.