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.

Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

Nomenclature News

  • New name on Venus

    The name Lindgren Patera has been provisionally approved for Venus. This feature can be seen on the image of V-16 from the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

  • Spelling of Saturn XXVIII

    The spelling of the saturnian satellite Erriapo has been changed from the dative to the nominative case: Erriapus.

  • New Names for Phobos

    Eight new names for craters on Phobos have been approved by the IAU. The names are Clustril, Drunlo, Flimnap, Grildrig, Gulliver, Limtoc, Reldresal, and Skyresh. For more information about these feature names, please see the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

  • New Names on Mars

    Five new names have been approved for Mars: Angustus Labyrinthus, Chronius Mons, Promethei Mons, Sisyphi Tholus, and Thyles Montes. The names Australis Patera, Angusta Patera, and Cavi Frigores have been marked as dropped in the database. New imagery has shown that the two paterae were named using the wrong descriptor term, and the area previously named Cavi Frigores has been incorporated into the adjacent Cavi Angusti.

    The definition of the descriptor term labyrinthus has been expanded from "Complex of intersecting valleys" to "Complex of intersecting valleys or ridges."

    See the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature for more information.

  • Cerberus Fossae Expanded

    The boundary of the Martian feature Cerberus Fossae has been expanded to include nearby fossae. Please see the listing in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature for the new coordinates and size.

  • Phobos Images with Names

    The Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature now contains images showing the recently approved names on Phobos.

  • New Names on Venus

    The following names have been provisionally approved by the IAU for features on Venus. The database information and images showing the features can be seen on the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

    Chanum Coronae

    Witte Patera

    Azimua Tholi

    Otohime Tholus

    The name Oanuava Corona has been changed to the plural form Oanuava Coronae.

  • Provisional Names Approved

    All of the names that have been provisionally approved by the IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature over the past three years were fully approved by the IAU at the General Assembly in Prague last week. The codes in the 'approval status' field for these names have been changed from '3' which denotes provisionally approved to '5' which denotes fully approved. See the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature for details.

  • Martian Crater Named Toro

    The name Toro has been approved for the Martian crater located at 17.05N, 288.24W. For more information, see the list of Martian crater names in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

  • New Name for Martian Crater

    The name Louth has been approved for the martian crater located at 70.2N, 256.88W. See the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature for more information.