Name your own Everest!
Agu 19, 2004 12: 29 EST
We all need something on a lighter note right now. So how about this:
All the rivers, mountains and deserts are already taken on Earth. But hey, out in Space - there is an Everest for everyone. And the mountains have no names. So what do you do if you want to put your own mark out there?
Well, the Space agencies are all for it. It's much easier to discuss the largest volcano in our solar system by using its name (Olympus Mons) rather than its map coordinates (Mars, 32N latitude, 135W longitude). It's much like IKEA furniture, how hard would it be to say "the brown chair with folding back." when, instead, you just mention the "Umbergorlig" chair and everyone knows just what you mean.
But it's not going to be easy to name your own John Everest: "There are strict rules and conventions for assigning landform names to solar system bodies. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is in charge of approving or disapproving submitted names.
The online directory of all (non-Earth) planetary names is located at planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov. The directory contains information on feature descriptors (Mons = mountain) and categories of names for feature types (valleys on Mars are named for the word 'mars' in different languages).
The list of descriptor terms can also be found at Planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov. Mythologies of different cultures are often used in selecting names; names on Mars are primarily from Greek/Roman mythology, while names on Callisto (a large moon of Jupiter) are from Norse mythology," says spaceref.com.
"Planetary nomenclature is international in scope; names are chosen from countries and cultures from all over the world, and they are evaluated by international groups of experts before they are approved by the IAU."
It can be done, but you better come up with something good.
Image "Olympus Mons" generated by Vortex-one.
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