Modern astronomers .. What are called space discoveries?

Imran Abdullah

With every new achievement in the world of space, the question arises of what has been discovered in order to take its place in the international scientific code and the memory of specialized and public dictionaries, in the process of its origins and rules.

The subject was recently renewed when, on January 1, the New Horizons spacecraft reached the deepest point of human exploration of outer space, reaching the farthest point of the planet, the Ultima Thule.

The vehicle was able to fly further away from the asteroid in the Keiper Belt behind the planet Neptune. The label "Ultima Thol" refers to an unknown distant place. The name seems appropriate, but at present it is merely a provisional name pending the official designation.

Formal names on the body, features and terrain on the surface (which may take years) will eventually be released by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), which celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2019.

The achievements made by the Union during its first decades include resolving a set of contradictions in the names given to astronomical characteristics on the Moon and Mars by competing astronomers over the last few centuries, especially in the time of Soviet-American competition.

The task of the naming task group was largely over, and the space age was not over, allowing space probes to send images that reveal details of the amazing natural properties of the planets and their moons, according to Professor David Ruthery, The Confession. "

Importance of naming objects
Planetary scientists find it difficult to live without at least one of the most recognizable or significant features on the body. If there are no names, it will be difficult for other observers to confirm or access and locate the same feature or terrain on a planet. The alternative is to be delimited by their numbering or map coordinates, but this option is cumbersome and unreasonable.

Based on some of the names of the moon and Mars already agreed, the International Astronomical Union ordered the designation of all features or terrain on objects and planets. For example, giant craters on Mars were named after dead scientists and writers associated with Mars (such as Asimov and Davenci). The nozzles located less than 60 km were named after towns and villages on Earth (such as French Bordeaux and Spanish Cadiz).

Unlike drilling and volcanic craters, most names are composed of two parts, with the addition of the term "descriptor" of Latin origin to indicate the type of feature that has been named.

On Mars we find the nearby valleys called Ares Valis, Theo Wallis, and Seymod Valles, where the term "Valais" is the Latin word for the valley.

This is preceded by the word "Mars" in a different language, in these examples Greek, Old English, Germanic and Sumerian respectively. Other descriptive terms such as "Chasma", "Mons", "Planitia" and "Planum" are also found.

Say or describe?
Descriptive terms are chosen to avoid indicating that we understand and know how a given feature has been formed. For example, there are many protrusions on the planet Mercury, which are currently interpreted as errors in thrust (where one area was pushed on the surface of another planet). But the use of a neutral descriptor term - in this case Robes uses the word "robes" - makes us free from the need to rename them if we later realize that we have misinterpreted and understood why they were formed. Similarly, none of the giant mountains on Mars that we are almost certain is volcanic, uses the word volcano as part of its official name.

The largest volcano on Mars corresponds to the "Olympus Mons" with a bright, ephemeral spot that can sometimes be distinguished by telescopes. However, it was first named "Nix Olympica" by the nineteenth-century space observer Giovanni Chiaparelli. However, space sensors have since shown that temporary brightness is not snow, but clouds and clouds sometimes gather around the top. The International Astronomical Union decided to preserve part of the name because it is the most appropriate, since "Mons" in Latin means "mountain".

On the moon, the Astronomical Union retained the term "mar" (Latin sea) as a description of the dark spots, although it is clear that they were not as filled with water as previously thought.

Cultural balance
The internal audit unit of the International Astronomical Union says it is sensitive and serious in achieving cultural balance. The names of the moon nozzles inherited by the Union commemorate the scholars of the past, most of whom are Westerners.

To achieve balance, the union was keen to release female names of dead or mythical characters on the features of Venus, whose surface was unknown because of the cloud cover, until a spacecraft reached the orbit that enabled it to be detected.

Before the first detailed images of Jupiter's satellites in Voyager-1 in 1979, the Astronomical Union planned to use the names of the legends of the peoples in the tropical equatorial region of Jupiter's Aeo, as well as legendary names from the European temperate region, names inspired by Middle Eastern legends, Of northern cultures. Pharaonic names such as Anubis, Scandinavian such as Valhalla, and ancient Europeans were already used.

The names of the fire, sun, thunder, lightning and volcanoes were replaced by names of fire, sun, thunder, lightning and volcanoes, but in different languages ​​and cultures, including words of Arabic origin such as Shamshu, derived from the word " "The Sun" Arabic.