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Mars: Nomenclature

Mars: Nomenclature. Geography 494-01 S/07 Dr. Christine M. Rodrigue. Mars: Nomenclature. Mars Naming Conventions The International Astronomical Union (IAU) governs planetary nomenclature New features identified, tentatively named, and the IAU peer-reviews the name for all planets

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Mars: Nomenclature

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  1. Mars: Nomenclature Geography 494-01 S/07 Dr. Christine M. Rodrigue C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  2. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Naming Conventions • The International Astronomical Union (IAU) governs planetary nomenclature • New features identified, tentatively named, and the IAU peer-reviews the name for all planets • Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature • Once approved, names go into the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature • This is housed at the USGS Astrogeology Research Program: http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/ C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  3. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Naming Conventions • Mars Features: Conventions for Naming Features • Albedo Features: Names from classical mythology originally assigned by Schiaparelli and Antoniadi • Large craters (craters > ~60 km): Dead scientists who contributed to the study of Mars; writers and others who added to the lore of Mars • Small craters (craters < ~60 km): Villages and towns on Earth having populations < 100,000 • Large valles: Name for "Mars" or "star" in various languages • Small valles: Classical or modern names of rivers • Other features: From a nearby named albedo feature on Schiaparelli or Antoniadi maps • Deimos: Authors who wrote about Martian satellites • Phobos: Scientists involved with the study of the Martian satellites, and characters and places from Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  4. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars: A Whole New Vocabulary! • Why?!? • Familiar geographical and geological terms are generally too misleading to use in an environment we can’t visit and understand in its own context • Calling something a “valley” implies the kind of fluvial and glacial erosion responsible for valleys here • Analogies may not apply, at least not yet • To avoid that temptation to analogies, the IAU has created a formal vocabulary to use in extraterrestrial contexts • We have to understand Mars (or any other extraterrestrial object) in its own terms and context • Sorry! C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  5. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Vastitas (vastitates) : An extensive, vast plain C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  6. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Planum (plana) : A plateau or high plain • Meridiani Planum seen from Opportunity’s Pancam C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  7. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Planitia (planitiæ) : A low-lying plain or lowland • Elysium Planitia C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  8. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Terra (terræ) : An extensive land mass • Arabia Terra C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  9. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Chaos: an area of broken or blocky terrain • Aram Chaos C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  10. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Cavus (cavi): a hollow or irregular, steep sided depression, often in clusters • Sysiphi Cavi (South Polar Layered Terrain) C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  11. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Chasma (chasmata): a deep, elongated, steep-sided depression • Ganges Chasma (eastern end of Valles Marineris system) C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  12. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Vallis (valles): a valley or canyon • Ma’adim Vallis (Viking image) • (and Gusev Crater, where Spirit landed) C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  13. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Fossa (fossæ): a long, narrow depression • Claritas Fossæ, in Solis Planum, taken by HRSC on Mars Express C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  14. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Labes: landslide • Valles Marineris C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  15. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Labyrinthus (labyrinthi): complex of intersecting valleys or ridges • Noctis Labyrinthus map (west of Valles Marineris, east of Pavonis Mons) C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  16. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Sulcus (sulci): parallel or sub-parallel furrows and ridges • Amazonis Sulci, east of Elysium, Mars Express C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  17. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Dorsum (dorsa): a ridge • Dorsum Gordii, Medusa Fossæ area west of Tharsis, THEMIS IR image to left C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  18. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Crater: a circular depression or impact feature • Crater with ice in Vastitas Borealis, Mars Express • Hellas, MOLA • Phobos, Stickney Crater C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  19. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Catena (catenæ): a line or chain of craters • Coprates Catenæ: impacts or pitting? C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  20. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Mensa (mensæ): mesa or flat-topped prominence with steep sides • Ausonia Mensa in southwest Hesperia Planum C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  21. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Lingula (lingulæ): extension of plateau having rounded lobate boundaries • Australe Lingulæ C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  22. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Rupes: scarp • Cerberus Rupes, MOC C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  23. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Scopulus (scopuli): a lobate or irregular scarp • Not sure where I got this one or where it is C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  24. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Colles: small hills or knobs • Ariadnes Colles in Cimmeria, MOC, possibly eroded remnants of deposits on crater floor C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  25. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Tholus, tholi: small conical mountain or hill • Uranius Tholus, Tharsis, Viking C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  26. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Mons (montes): large mountain (as in really large, on Mars) • Olympus Mons C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  27. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Patera (pateræ): an irregular crater or volcano with scalloped edges • Alba Patera • Apollinaris Patera C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  28. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Tessera (tesseræ): tile-like or polygonal terrain • South Polar Region, MOC C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

  29. Mars: Nomenclature • Mars Features • Undæ: dunes • Sand Hills of Nili Patera, Syrtis Major, MOC C.M. Rodrigue, 2007 Geography, CSULB

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