Vulcan Planum

Vulcan Planum

An annotated map of Charon, with Vulcan Planum in the centre of the image
Location Charon
Discoverer New Horizons

Vulcan /ˈvʌlkən/ is a large plain on the surface of Pluto's moon Charon, discovered by New Horizons during its flyby of Pluto in July 2015. It is named after the fictional planet Vulcan in the science-fiction series Star Trek.

Geography

Vulcan Planum has a mostly smooth surface with no large craters. The more significant craters have been named after characters from Star Trek, while two mountains have been named after science-fiction authors and directors.

List of named geological features[1]

Feature Type Named After Mythos
Clarke Mons mountain Arthur C. Clarke science-fiction author
Kubrick Mons mountain Stanley Kubrick science-fiction author
Kirk Crater crater James T. Kirk Star Trek series
Spock Crater crater Spock Star Trek series
Sulu Crater crater Hikaru Sulu Star Trek series
Uhura Crater crater Nyota Uhura Star Trek series

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, August 10, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.