. 24/7 Space News .
STELLAR CHEMISTRY
From volcanoes on Mars to scarps on Mercury - how places on other worlds get their names
by David Rothery Professor of Planetary Geosciences, The Open University
London, UK (The Conversation) Jan 16, 2019

file image

The New Horizons spacecraft, which flew past Pluto in 2015, successfully completed a flyby of "Ultima Thule", an object in the Kuiper belt of bodies beyond Neptune on January 1, 2019. The name Ultima Thule, signifying a distant unknown place, is fitting but it is currently just a nickname pending formal naming. The official names of the body and of the features on its surface will eventually be allocated (this could take years) by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), which celebrates its centenary in 2019.

The IAU's achievements during its first few decades include resolving contradictory sets of names given to features on the Moon and Mars by rival astronomers during the previous few centuries. The nomenclature working group's task would then have been largely over, had the space age not dawned - allowing space probes to send back images revealing spectacular landscape details on planets and their moons.

Planetary scientists would find life difficult without names for at least the largest or most prominent features on a body. If there were no names, the only ways to be sure that other investigators could locate the same feature would be by numbering them or specifying map coordinates. Either option would be cumbersome and unmemorable.

The rules
Building on some of the already entrenched lunar and martian names, the IAU imposed order by establishing themes for the names of features on each body. For example, large craters on Mars are named after deceased scientists and writers associated with Mars (there's an Asimov and a Da Vinci), and craters less than 60km across are named after towns and villages on Earth (there's a Bordeaux and a Cadiz).

Apart from craters, most names are in two parts, with a "descriptor term" of Latin origin added to denote the type of feature that has been named. On Mars we find neighbouring valleys called Ares Vallis, Tiu Vallis and Simud Vallis, in which the descriptor term "Vallis" is Latin for valley. This is preceded by the word for "Mars" in a different language - in these examples Greek, Old English/Germanic and Sumerian respectively. Among other descriptor terms are Chasma (a deep, elongated depression), Mons (mountain), Planitia (a low lying plain) and Planum (a high plain or plateau).

Descriptor terms are chosen to avoid implying that we know how any particular feature formed. For example, there are many scarps on Mercury that are currently interpreted as thrust faults (where one region of a planet's surface has been pushed over another). However, a neutral descriptor term - in this case Rupes (Latin for scarp) - is used so they would not have to be renamed if we were to realise that we'd been misinterpreting them. Similarly, none of the giant mountains on Mars that are almost certainly volcanoes has volcano as a formal part of its name.

The largest volcano on Mars, Olympus Mons, coincides with an ephemeral bright spot that can sometimes be discerned through telescopes. Though this was initially dubbed Nix Olympica (meaning "the snows of Olympus") by the 19th-century observer, Giovanni Schiaparelli, space probes have since shown that the temporary brightness is not snow but clouds that sometimes gather around the summit. The IAU decided to keep the Olympus part of the name, qualified by the more appropriate descriptor Mons (mountain in Latin).

On the Moon, the IAU retained Mare (Latin for sea) as a descriptor term for dark spots, even though it is clear they have never been water-filled as was once thought. However, Michael van Langren's Mare Langrenianum, which he immodestly named after himself on his 1655 map, is now Mare Fecunditatis.

Cultural balance
The IAU is rightly sensitive to achieving cultural and gender balance. The names of lunar craters that the IAU inherited commemorate famous past scientists, which for historical reasons are dominantly male and Western. In partial compensation, the IAU decided that all features on Venus, whose surface was virtually unknown because of its global cloud cover until we got radar spacecraft into orbit, would be named after females (deceased or mythical). For example, there is a Nightingale Corona, a large oval-shaped feature named after Florence Nightingale. The only non-female exceptions are three features that had already been named after being detected by Earth-based radar.

Prior to the first detailed images of Jupiter's moons by Voyager-1 in 1979, the IAU planned to use names from the myths of peoples in Earth's equatorial zone for the moon Io. It would use mythical names from the European temperate zone for Europa, names from near-Eastern mythology for Ganymede and names from far northern cultures for Callisto.

They stuck to the latter three, and so Europa has Annwn Regio (a region named after the Welsh "Otherworld"), and Ganymede and Callisto have craters named Anubis (Egyptian jackal-headed god) and Valhalla (Norse warriors' feast hall).

However, because Io was revealed to be undergoing continual volcanic eruptions, the original naming theme was deemed inappropriate and was replaced by the names of fire, sun, thunder/lightning and volcano deities from across the world's cultures. For example, the names Ah Peku, Camaxtli, Emakong, Maui, Shamshu, Tawhaki, and Tien Mu (which occur on the map above) come from fire, thunder or Sun myths of the Mayans, the Aztecs, New Britain, Hawaii, Arabia, the Maoris, and China, respectively.

Captain Cook and the Maoris
The IAU has struggled to achieve cultural balance for some features. For example, the theme for Rupes on Mercury is "ships of discovery or scientific expeditions". By the nature of world history, there is a preponderance of Western ship names. For example, we find Adventure, Discovery, Endeavour, and Resolution - all four ships from Captain Cook's 18th-century voyages to the Southern Ocean and Pacific.

Personally, I am content that these were primarily journeys of scientific discovery rather than of conquest or colonisation. Cook's first voyage was undertaken to observe a rare transit of Venus, and his second voyage reached further south than ever before.

That said, it would be nice to redress the balance. In connection with a European planetary mapping project, one of my PhD students and I hope to get at least one of Mercury's as yet unnamed Rupes named after a canoe in which the Maoris arrived in New Zealand.

Ultimately, space exploration is for all of humanity.


Related Links
The Open University
Stellar Chemistry, The Universe And All Within It


Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly


paypal only
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal


STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Russia loses control of only space telescope
Moscow (AFP) Jan 14, 2019
Russia has lost control of its only space radio telescope but officials are working to re-establish communication, the country's beleaguered space agency said Monday. The incident is the latest setback for Russia's debt-laden space industry, which in recent years has suffered the loss of spacecraft, satellites, and a failed manned launch. Roscosmos said a US observatory detected signals from Russia's gigantic Spektr-R, or RadioAstron, telescope, which stopped responding to commands from Earth l ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Beans to be next vegetable on astronauts' menu by 2021

Moon sees first cotton-seed sprout

Space dreams: Alum Frank Bunger's quest to make space tourism a reality

NASA Astronaut Hague Who Failed to Reach ISS May Make One-Year Flight

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
SLS liquid hydrogen tank test article loaded into test stand

SpaceX laying off 10 percent of workforce

SpaceX launches final 10 satellites for Iridium

Roscosmos introduces $15Bln cap on building Yenisei super-heavy rocket

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
UK tests self driving robots for Mars

ExoMars mission has good odds of finding life on Mars if life exists.

Mars Express gets festive: A winter wonderland on Mars

Over Six Months Without Word From Opportunity

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
China launches Zhongxing-2D satellite

China to deepen lunar exploration: space expert

China welcomes world's scientists to collaborate in lunar exploration

In space, the US sees a rival in China

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
A new era of global aircraft surveillance is on the horizon as Aireon completes system deployment

Australia's 'space city' hosts rising stars from around the globe

SpaceX Falcon 9 completes Iridium Next launch campaign

The Satellite Applications Catapult partners with Infostellar to provide improved ground station access

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Northrop Grumman to support U.S. Army's Starlite radar system

Raytheon awarded $9.3M contract for Spy-1 radar work

Raytheon to equip classic Hornet with upgraded radar

A new twist on a mesmerizing story

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Potential for life on planet around Barnard's Star

First comprehensive, interactive tool to track SETI searches

Nature's magnifying glass reveals unexpected intermediate mass exoplanets

TESS discovers its third new planet, with longest orbit yet

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Scientist Anticipated "Snowman" Asteroid Appearance

New Ultima Thule Discoveries from NASA's New Horizons

New Horizons unveils Ultima and Thule as a binary Kuiper

NASA says faraway world Ultima Thule shaped like 'snowman'









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.