One of the annoying things about exploration is that when you find things you sooner or later have to get around to naming them. Almost three years after NASA’s New Horizons deep space probe made its historic flyby of Pluto, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) have released the first list of official names for features on the face of the dwarf planet’s largest moon, Charon. Approved by the IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature, it includes names proposed by the New Horizons team and pays tribute to explorers, futurists, and fictional characters.
.. Continue Reading What’s in a name? For Plutonian moon, explorers, scientists and fictional characters
Category: Space
Tags:
Related Articles:
- Astronomers consult the underworld to name Pluto’s first features
- Pluto’s moon Charon captured in stunning detail
- New Horizons spurs new calls to make Pluto a planet once again
- Highest-resolution images of Pluto zoom in on mountains, craters and icy plains
- NASA’s spectacular flyover video transports you to Pluto
- New Horizons’ data continues to uncover surprises on Pluto and its moon
