New Name Approved for a Crater on the Moon

31 March 2015

 The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved the name Tharp for a crater on the Moon. For more information, see the map of the Moon quadrangle LAC-102 in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Names Approved for Two Craters on Mars

21 March 2015

The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved the names Hunten and Choyr for two craters on Mars. For more information, see the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

New Name Approved for Jovian Satellite

10 March 2015

The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved the name Dia for the Jovian satellite, Jupiter LIII. For more information, see the "Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers" page in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

New Names Approved for Six Features on Ganymede

4 March 2015

The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved names for six paterae on Ganymede: Hamra, Hammamat, Musa, Natrun, Rum, and Yaroun. For more information, see the Ganymede Map and the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

New Names Approved for 28 Features on Titan

21 January 2015

The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved names for twenty-eight features on Titan: nine insulae, four freta, and fifteen sinūs. For more information, see the Titan North Pole Map and the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

New Name Approved for Crater on Mars

9 December 2014

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

Descriptor Term and Theme Approved for Use on Titan

23 November 2014

The IAU Working Group for Planetary Nomenclature has modified the definition of the descriptor term sinus and approved it for use on Titan. The theme will be "Names of terrestrial bays, coves, fjords or other inlets." For more information, see the list of descriptor terms and Titan themes in the… Read More

New Descriptor Term and Theme Approved for Use on Titan

6 November 2014

The IAU Working Group for Planetary Nomenclature has approved the descriptor term fretum for use on Titan. The theme will be "Names of characters from the Foundation series of science fiction novels by American author Isaac Asimov (1920-1992)." For more information, see the list of descriptor… Read More

Two Themes Approved for Ceres

29 October 2014

The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved two themes for use on Ceres.  The theme for craters is “Gods and goddesses of agriculture and vegetation from world mythology”. The theme “Names of agricultural festivals of the world” will be used for other features. The… Read More

New Name Approved for a Colles on Mars

21 October 2014

The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved the name Hydraotes Colles for a feature on Mars. For more information, see the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.