Official websites use .gov
A
.gov website belongs to an official government
organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A
lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to
the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official,
secure websites.
In October 2010, the coordinates of the named craters in the Martian portion of the nomenclature database were updated from values from the Mars Digital Image Mosaic (MDIM) 2.0 control network to values in the MDIM 2.1 control network. The purpose of this work is to facilitate the identification of named Martian craters. The locations of the craters in the KML and shapefiles will correspond to the crater locations on any map product that was created using the same MDIM 2.1 control network.
The extents and sizes of the named craters were also updated; these data are approximate and are intended solely to give the user sufficient information to identify the craters and their rough extents. A link to a more precise global crater database by Stuart Robbins will be provided when available.
This new set of coordinates was derived using ArcMap version 9.3.1 and the Mars Digial Image Mosaic 2.1. Some small craters are not resolved well in the MDIM 2.1 image; for these cases, feature coordinates were derived from the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) Day IR 100m global mosaic. We would like to thank Stuart Robbins (University of Colorado, Boulder) for sharing a portion of his forthcoming global crater database, which provided a valuable and time-saving starting point for this work.
The Martian portion of the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature now defaults to a new set of coordinates; the craters match MDIM 2.1, and the non-crater features are still in the MDIM 2.0 control network. The craters were updated first because they are the smallest features and therefore the mismatch between MDIM 2.0 and MDIM 2.1 was most obvious. Named non-crater features will be updated at a later date. The data set that contains all of the features in the MDIM 2.0 control network is still retained in the gazetteer, but is now considered archival and will not be updated with new names or changes to approved names.
In 2012, coordinates of the named features in the lunar portion of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature were updated. Previous coordinates were based on maps using the Unified Lunar Control Network (ULCN) 2005 coordinate reference frame. The new coordinates are derived from maps made in the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) coordinate reference frame. These reference frames are referred to the mean Earth/polar axis reference coordinate system for the Moon. The updated coordinates will facilitate the identification of named lunar features on images derived from LOLA topography. Dots representing the center coordinates of named features should fall in the centers of the features when displayed on any map product based on the LOLA reference frame.
The extents and sizes of named features were also updated; these data are approximate and are intended solely to give the user sufficient information to identify named features and their rough extents. A link to a more precise lunar crater database (now in preparation) by Dr. Nadine Barlow will be provided when available.
This new set of coordinates was derived using ArcMap version 10.0 as a display tool, a lunar hillshade image based on LOLA topography (LDEM_128.jp2, 128 pixels/degree or 237 m/pixel, released December 2011, http://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/missions/lro/lola.htm), and a LRO Wide Angle Camera (WAC) image mosaic (released November 2011, http://wms.lroc.asu.edu/lroc/global_product/100_mpp_global_bw). Feature boundaries were determined using both images, but the features were aligned to the LOLA hillshade image where there were slight discrepancies.
The lunar portion of the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature web site now displays feature coordinates in the LOLA reference frame. The original coordinates (from unknown sources) and the ULCN 2005 coordinates are retained in the gazetteer and can be viewed by gazetteer users by selecting the desired coordinate set from a dropdown menu on the feature pages. The “Unknown” and ULCN 2005 coordinates are now considered archival and will not be updated with new names or changes to approved names.
The Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved names for 23 craters and one regio on asteroid (2867) Steins. For details, see the list of Steins feature names and the image of Steins in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.
Three new names have been approved in the polar areas of the Moon; the names Hinshelwood and Whipple for the north pole region, and the name Braude for the south pole region. For more information, see the list of Moon crater names in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.
The following names have been approved for gaps in Saturn's ring system: Bond Gap, Dawes Gap, Herschel Gap, Russell Gap, Jeffreys Gap, Kuiper Gap, Laplace Gap, Bessel Gap, and Barnard Gap. See the "Ring and Ring Gap Nomenclature" page in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature for more information.
The names Aepinus, Bosch, Erlanger, Fibiger, Florey, Gore, Grignard, Haber, Hevesy, Haskin, Houssay, Ibn Bajja, Kocher, Kuhn, Laveran, Nefed'ev, Svedberg, von Baeyer, and Wapowski have been approved for craters in the north and south polar regions of the Moon. For more information, see the list of Moon crater names in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.
The names Haworth and Lenard have been approved for the lunar craters located at 86.8S, 4W, and 85.2N, 105W, respectively. For more information, see the list of Moon crater names in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.
The name Roche Division has been approved for the division between Saturn's A and F rings. See the ring nomenclature page in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature for more information.
The descriptor term mare/maria has been approved for use on Titan for large expanses of dark materials thought to be liquid hydrocarbons. The theme for maria on Titan is "Sea creatures from myth and literature." Please see the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature for more information.
The name Makemake has been approved for the transneptunian dwarf planet (136472) 2005 FY9. Makemake is a creator god of Rapa Nui (Easter Island). For more information, see the page "Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers" in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, and the IAU press release.
