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The name Aegaeon has been approved for Saturn LIII. Aegaeon is a hundred-armed giant, called Briareus by the gods. For more information, see the "Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers" page in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.
The name Oyama has been approved for the Martian crater located at 23.66N, 20.17W. For more information, see the list of Martian crater names and the map of MC-11 in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.
The IAU has approved 45 new names for surface features on Dione, including 34 craters, 3 catenae, 3 chasmata, 1 dorsa, and 4 fossae. Please see the list of Dione names in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature for more information.
The following five changes to existing names were also approved:
Amata was moved to a smaller, well-defined crater.
Carthage Linea was changed to Carthage Fossae.
Cassandra was moved to a smaller, well-defined crater.
Padua Linea was changed to Padua Chasmata.
The length of Palatine Chasmata was amended and the descriptor term was changed to the plural form.
The descriptor term labyrinthus has been approved for use on Titan with the theme "Names of Planets from the Dune series of science fiction novels by American author Frank Herbert (1920-1986)." The name Sikun Labyrinthus has been approved for the feature located at 78S, 29W. For more information, see the list of Titan surface features in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.
A 70 km crater on Mars, located at 6.57N, 345.73W, has been named for the American astronomer Charles F. Capen. Please see the map of MC-12 and the list of Martian feature names in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature for more information.
An image mosaic of the north pole area of Titan showing the newly named lacus features is now linked to the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.
The International Astronomical Union has approved the name Eris for the largest known dwarf planet (see CBAT Circular 8747). Eris is the Greek goddess of chaos and strife; she created a quarrel among goddesses that led to the Trojan War. This name could be considered quite fitting for the body that has fueled the debate concerning how to define a planet. The name Eris was suggested by the discoverer, Michael Brown.
Eris satellite was named Dysnomia, for Eris daughter who carries the attribute of lawlessness.
The name Zeta has been approved for Uranus ring 1986 U2R. For more information, see the page that describes ring nomenclature in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.
A new set of maps showing all IAU-approved names on Mercury is now available. These maps are based on new mosaics of Mercury, composed of images from the Mariner 10 and MESSENGER missions.
The names Henbury, Layla, Lonar, Maricourt, and Steinheim have been approved by the IAU for five Martian craters. Details can be found in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.
