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Posted by: Michael Capobianco Jan 16 2006, 08:16 PM

I'm just wondering when the IAU will get around to assigning names to the new features found on the Saturnian satellites by Cassini. Titan has gotten names, but what about the other moons? It would make discussion a whole lot easier if we had names for, say, the features within Cassini Regio.


Michael

Posted by: hendric Jan 17 2006, 11:57 PM

Interesting link, list of IAU nomenclature for each object:

http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/append6.html

Posted by: angel1801 Mar 4 2006, 08:33 AM

I have been reading the contents of this site for about a week now and this is my first post. To my knowledge, names have been given and are at "level 3" (that is provisional approval) status for Phoebe and Titan. Still no news on the other bodies. I suspect that due to the sheer number of new features that have been discovered, some naming conventions will have to change or be altered alot. So I guess a big delay will be in order here for feature names.

Posted by: BruceMoomaw Mar 5 2006, 02:11 AM

I think that -- at some point -- we are going to have to start grasping the nettle and giving features simple letter-and-number IDs (as we have for a long time with stars). Given the staggering swarm of separate terrain features that are now being located, we are simply going to run out of names.

Posted by: David Mar 5 2006, 03:29 AM

On the other hand, we seem to have little trouble naming every creek and hill and town-with-a-gas-pump-but-no-post-office in the world. Of course, we don't worry two much about them all being unique (just different enough from other local features) or insist they they be in some sort of barbarous Azteco-Latin. Perhaps we should just give them old-fashioned pioneer names: like Squyres Gulch, and Porco Ridge, and Ellison Canyon, and Lakdawalla Rift, and Moomaw's Playa et cetera.

Apologies to all the other people who deserve named features, but I can't sit around all day naming things after you! You're just going to have to do it yourself.

Posted by: MarcF Aug 17 2006, 09:53 AM

I hope the IAU meeting in Prague will not just focus on whether Pluto (or others) will still be called a planet or not, which for me is not really important (I already posted something about that in another section).
Does someone know if new feature names will be assigned to Saturnian moons (for example to the great basins and new tectonic features discovered on Dione and Iapetus) ?
Marc.

Posted by: angel1801 Aug 17 2006, 11:36 AM

I really hope so myself.

I done a lot some internet research over the last few months, and there more than enough creation myths and places around to give names on Rhea and I've downloded the entire "Song Of Roland" text and there are enough names and places to fill names on Iapetus, allthough some places will need to be re-named! I haven't done research for the naming conventions for Tethys, Dione, Hyperion & Mimas yet.


Phoebe and Titan already have names assigned already.

The names of Phoebe come from names and places from the story "Jason And The Argonauts".

Posted by: ljk4-1 Aug 17 2006, 11:59 AM

Don't worry - the astronomer who is blogging the IAU conference has focused
on just about everything but the Pluto/planet decision:

http://astronomy2006.blogspot.com/

Posted by: MarcF Aug 17 2006, 12:14 PM

Thanks for the info ljk4-1. I was just searching on the web for a program of the IAU meeting.
I worried a little bit since everywhere (even on unmanned spaceflight.com), the only topic discussed these few last days concerned the problem of how to define a "planet".
Marc.

Posted by: Thorsten Aug 17 2006, 02:11 PM

Cassini has taken some really nice images of Saturn’s small satellites, including Pandora, Telesto, and Epimetheus. So far only Janus and Epimetheus have named features on their surface (craters named after people from the myth of Castor and Pollux). I was wondering if they will - sooner or later - decide to give names to features on other small satellites as well or if most of these moons are considered as too smooth/ featureless to deserve naming. Size should not be a problem, as Phobos and Deimos - and the puny moon Dactyl (1.2 by 1.4 by 1.6 km)– also have named features.

Posted by: Jyril Aug 17 2006, 07:54 PM

Even the tiniest of tiny--http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/jsp/FeatureTypes2.jsp?system=Asteroid%20Belt&body=Itokawa&systemID=12&bodyID=67&sort=AName&show=Fname&show=Lat&show=Long&show=Diam&show=Stat&show=Orig--has now named features.

Posted by: Michael Capobianco Aug 28 2006, 03:59 PM

The ongoing discussion about the naming of Saturnian satellite features prompted me to e-mail Ms. Jennifer Blue, the contact person listed at the USGS Astrogeology Research Program, which hosts the Gazeteer for Planetary Nomenclature. I asked her when we should expect names to be assigned to these features. This was her response:

"Dear Mr. Capobianco,

We have not yet received any requests from the science community to name additional surface features on Dione, Rhea, and Iapetus. Note that we only name features when names are needed by the scientific community at large. You can read about the naming process at http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/approved.html, and about IAU rules and conventions at http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/rules.html.

If you have further questions, please feel free to write.

With best regards,
Jenny"

I find it hard to believe this e-mail tells the complete story, but it looks as if naming isn't going to happen anytime soon. Anyone know a member of the science community who might be interested in helping to get these things named?

Michael

Posted by: MarcF Aug 28 2006, 08:36 PM

It seems we will have to be patient.
Anyway, thanks for the info Michael.

Marc.

Posted by: angel1801 Aug 29 2006, 05:03 AM

On the flip side, there has been requests for new names on Mimas, Tethys, Enceladaus and Hyperion. And that is a good start though......

Since Tethys was the best imaged moon from the Voyager missions, the job of giving new names should be easy. I would suspect that Enceladus would be the hardest of the lot.

And for Dione, Rhea & Iapetus. I thought these moons did have features that people would want to be named by now.

Posted by: volcanopele Aug 29 2006, 05:16 AM

No, if Dione is listed, I wouldn't be so sure about the others. Maybe Michael just asked about Dione, Rhea, and Iapetus, and not the others.

Posted by: Phil Stooke Aug 29 2006, 02:12 PM

Titan was a special case, I think, really needing a basic framework of names early on. But for all the other moons don't forget the mission is still in progress. We have some preliminary mosaics to play with, but the official mapping needs new control networks, new global maps etc. first. Systematic naming can follow when cartographers can give proper coordinates for each named feature. The new USGS maps will probably not be started until after the nominal mission. There's no hurry!

Phil

Posted by: Michael Capobianco Aug 29 2006, 05:07 PM

Looking back at my e-mail, I saw that it could be construed to be only asking about Dione, Rhea, and Iapetus. I wrote her again to ask about the other icy satellites. Here's the reply:

"Hello Michael,

There is a proposal in the works for names on Enceladus, but not for Mimas, Tethys, or Hyperion. All of the provisional names from the last 3 years were approved at the IAU GA.

Hope that tells you what you need to know!

Best regards,
Jenny"

Posted by: angel1801 Sep 7 2006, 11:15 AM

Important update:

http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/HotTopics/index.php?/archives/205-No-More-Provisional-Names!.html

Posted by: remcook Sep 7 2006, 11:26 AM

http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00000691/

Rosaly Lopes on Naming Names.

Posted by: volcanopele Sep 7 2006, 05:54 PM

Interesting. A good move IMHO. Division III has become nothing more than a rubber stamp for the provisional names approved by the WGPSN. The only change that I can remember made by Division III during a GA was when the names for Ionian volcanoes Itzamna Patera and Susanoo Patera were switched due to the proximity of Sigurd Patera to the provisionally named Susanoo Patera. This did result in some confusion after a failed observation of Itzamna Patera was named SUSANO01 before the name change.