Ceres is a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt that lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The IAU has adopted two themes for naming surface features on Ceres: agricultural deities for craters and agricultural festivals for everything else.[1]
As of 2020, the IAU has approved names for 151 geological features on Ceres: craters, montes, catenae, rupēs, plana, tholi, planitiae, fossae and sulci.[2][3] In July 2018, NASA released a comparison of physical features found on Ceres with similar ones present on Earth.[4]
Piazzi, named after Giuseppe Piazzi, the discoverer of Ceres, is a dark region southwest of Dantu crater in ground-based images that was named before Dawn arrived at Ceres.[5]
Samhain, the Gaelic festival at the end of the harvest season, which was observed in Ireland and Scotland during seven days in October and November, nearly halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice[10]
Ceres is saturated with impact craters. Many have a central pit or bright spot.
In the first batch of 17 names approved by the IAU, craters north of 20° north latitude had names beginning with A–G (with Asari being the furthest north), those between 20° north and south latitude beginning with H–R, and those further south beginning with S–Z (with Zadeni being the furthest south).
Kirnis, Lithuanian spirit and guardian of cherry trees[74] (in the image at right, Kirnis is near the terminator at 4 o'clock from the bright spots) (Close-up Image-1; Close-up Image-2)
Ahuna, the Sumi (Nagaland, northeast India) traditional post-harvest festival that signifies the celebration of the season's harvest's thanksgiving[125] (Close-up Image)
Liberalia, ancient Roman festival to honour Liber and Libera, deities of the vine, worshipped, along with Ceres as fertility gods, held on 17 March[126]
↑ Name changed from Samhain Catena (singular) to Samhain Catenae (plural) and boundary expanded from 168km to 715km.
↑ Name changed from Ysolo Mons to Yamor Mons. See:"Name changed on Ceres". Astrogeology. USGS. 7 December 2016.
↑ Name changed from Erntedank Planum to Hanami Planum.
Related Research Articles
A crater chain is a line of craters along the surface of an astronomical body. The descriptor term for crater chains is catena, plural catenae, as specified by the International Astronomical Union's rules on planetary nomenclature.
In planetary nomenclature, a tholus is a small domical mountain or hill. The word is from the Greek θόλος, tholos, which means a circular building with a conical or vaulted roof. The Romans transliterated the word into the Latin tholus, which means cupola or dome. In 1973, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) adopted tholus as one of a number of official descriptor terms for topographic features on Mars and other planets and satellites. One justification for using neutral Latin or Greek descriptors was that it allowed features to be named and described before their geology or geomorphology could be determined. For example, many tholi appear to be volcanic in origin, but the term does not imply a specific geologic origin. Currently, the IAU recognizes 56 descriptor terms. Tholi are present on Venus, Mars, asteroid 4 Vesta, dwarf planet Ceres, and on Jupiter's moon Io.
Tharsis Tholus is an intermediate-sized shield volcano located in the eastern Tharsis region of the planet Mars. The volcano was discovered by the Mariner 9 spacecraft in 1972 and originally given the informal name Volcano 7. In 1973, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially designated it Tharsis Tholus. In planetary geology, tholus is the term for a small domical mountain, usually a volcano.
The Ceraunius Fossae are a set of fractures in the northern Tharsis region of Mars. They lie directly south of the large volcano Alba Mons and consist of numerous parallel faults and tension cracks that deform the ancient highland crust. In places, younger lava flows cover the fractured terrain, dividing it into several large patches or islands. They are found in the Tharsis quadrangle.
Pangboche is a young impact crater on Mars, in the Tharsis quadrangle near the summit of Olympus Mons. It was named after a village in Nepal. It measures 10 kilometer in diameter, and is at 17.47° N and 133.4° W.
Hesperia Planum is a broad lava plain in the southern highlands of the planet Mars. The plain is notable for its moderate number of impact craters and abundant wrinkle ridges. It is also the location of the ancient volcano Tyrrhena Mons. The Hesperian time period on Mars is named after Hesperia Planum.
Bopolu is an impact crater located within the Meridiani Planum extraterrestrial plain of Mars. Bopulu was seen by Opportunity rover in 2010 in the distance, and with some of its rim visible. Bopoplu was officially named in 2006 along with 31 Mars craters. Research has indicated that the impact that is thought to have created Bopulu went so deep that it went through existing layers and ejected older material from Mars' Noachian period. Bopulu is a 19 kilometres (12 mi) diameter wide crater south of the Opportunity MER-B landing site, a rover which operated in the region starting in 2004 and therefore resulted in greater exploration and study of craters in this region. Bopulu was identified as a possible source for the Bounce Rock ejecta fragment Bounce rock, which was examined by the MER-B rover, was found to be similar in composition to the shergottite class of Mars meteorite found on Earth.
Several bright surface features were discovered on the dwarf planet Ceres by the Dawn spacecraft in 2015.
Occator is an impact crater located on Ceres, the largest object in the main asteroid belt that lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, that contains "Spot 5", the brightest of the bright spots observed by the Dawn spacecraft. It was known as "Region A" in ground-based images taken by the W. M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea.
The geology of Ceres consists of the characteristics of the surface, the crust and the interior of the dwarf planet Ceres. The surface of Ceres is comparable to the surfaces of Saturn's moons Rhea and Tethys, and Uranus's moons Umbriel and Oberon.
This is a list of space objects and features which were named after Russian people and places:
Several space objects and features have been named after Thai people or things in Thailand. These include planetary features on Mars and Venus, minor planets, and exoplanets.
This is a list of space objects and features which were named after Filipino people, mythology and places.
Oxo is a small impact crater on the dwarf planet Ceres. Located in Ceres's northern hemisphere, it is the second-brightest feature on Ceres. The crater was named after the Candomblé god of agriculture.
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