Charon likely to get geographic names from Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, LOTR, Lovecraft, etc
Nerdiest.Worlds. Ever.
This month's New Horizons flyby of dwarf planet Pluto and its biggest moon Charon left a wealth of incredible data in its wake, with unforgettable pictures of geographic features such as the now famous giant "heart" on Pluto.
But the highly detailed pictures gave the New Horizons team a welcome problem: What do they call all those craters, plains and mountain ranges?
Now, thanks to maps the New Horizons team plans to submit to the International Astronomical Union (the official governing body for names of celestial objects), we know the answer.
Their names are drawn from movies, TV shows and books sure to gladden every geek's heart — including Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Firefly, Alien, Lord of the Rings and the works of H.P. Lovecraft.
The New Horizons team actually asked for submissions from the public, and they were happy to oblige.
Pluto, according to IAU rules, must have its fictional names drawn from underworld mythology — so the NASA team offered the Cthulu regio (regio being a large area differentiated by its color) and the Balrog macula (dark spot), honoring Lovecraft's dark god and J.R.R. Tolkein's underground demons, respectively.
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More: http://mashable.com/2015/07/28/pluto-charon-nasa-star-wars/
Love this! A
Cthulu region!
= new reply since forum marked as read
ha...ha...ha...um...er...ah hem...
She was one of my heroes back in the '60's.
