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PUBLICATION_DATE = 1994-08-01
NOTE = "Venus list of IAU-approved named features."
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
How names become approved
IAU rules and conventions
Description of Gazetteer table
Appendix 1. Key to Gazetteer fields
Appendix 2. List of descriptors (feature types)
Appendix 3. Diacritics used in the table
INTRODUCTION
Planetary nomenclature, like terrestrial nomenclature, is used to
uniquely identify a feature on the surface of a planet or
satellite so that the feature can be easily located, described,
or discussed. This digital gazetteer file was compiled expressly
for the Magellan full-resolution CD-ROMS and contains detailed
nomenclature information about the features on Venus named and
approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
HOW NAMES BECOME APPROVED
Anyone--either scientist or layman--may suggest a name for a
planetary feature or ask that a specific feature be named.
Candidate names are reviewed by the appropriate Task Group
operating under the IAU's Working Group for Planetary System
Nomenclature. Names considered appropriate by a Task Group are
submitted to the Working Group, which meets once a year. The
Working Group transmits its list of recommended names to the
yearly meeting of the IAU's Executive Committee, which checks
the names for conformity to IAU standards. Successful candidate
names are then presented for adoption to the IAU's General
Assembly, which meets triennially. A name is not considered to
be official, that is, "adopted," until the General Assembly has
given its approval. Names recommended by the Working Group, but
not yet approved by the Executive Committee, are considered
"provisional," and may be used in publications provided that
their provisional status is somehow indicated. Suggestions for
naming a specific feature or requests that a specific name be
used should be sent to the president of the Working Group, to the
chairman of the appropriate Task Group, or to the USGS Branch of
Astrogeology.
IAU RULES AND CONVENTIONS
Names adopted by the IAU must follow various rules and
conventions established through the years by the Union. Rules for
Venus names include the following:
1. Nomenclature is a tool and the first consideration should
be to make it simple, clear, and unambiguous.
2. Although there will be some exceptions, duplication of the
same name on two or more bodies should be avoided.
3. Solar system nomenclature should be international in its
choice of names.
4. No names having political, military or religious
significance, or names of modern philosophers may be
used. Names of political figures prior to the 19th
Century are acceptable.
5. Persons being honored must have been deceased for at least
three years before his/her name can be assigned to a
feature. Exceptions to this rule were made for living
astronauts and cosmonauts because their contributions to
space exploration were unique.
6. Diacritical marks are a necessary part of a name, and will
be used.
In addition to these general rules, the Working Group has
formulated a set of naming conventions for each planet and/or
satellite. Conventions for Venus are as follows:
Chasmata Goddesses of the hunt, Moon goddesses
Colles Miscellaneous goddesses
Coronae Fertility and earth goddesses
Craters Over 20 km, famous women; under 20 km, common
female first names
Dorsa Sky goddesses
Farra Water goddesses
Fluctus Miscellaneous goddesses
Lineae Goddesses of war
Montes Miscellaneous goddesses
Paterae Famous women
Planitiae Mythological heroines
Plana Goddess of prosperity
Regiones Giantesses and Titanesses
Reticula Nymphs
Rupes Goddesses of hearth and home
Terrae Goddesses of love
Tesserae Goddesses of fate or fortune
Tholus Miscellaneous goddesses
Valles Word for planet Venus in various world languages;
water goddesses for smaller valles
DESCRIPTION OF GAZETTEER TABLE
The gazetteer (file: [GAZETTER]GAZETTER.TAB) is a table of
geographical features for a planet. It contains information
about a named feature such as location and origin of feature
name. The Gazetteer Table contains one row for each feature named
on Venus. The table is formatted so that it may be read directly
into many data management systems on various host computers. All
fields (columns) are separated by commas. Each record consists of
383 bytes, with a carriage return/line feed sequence in bytes 382
and 383. This allows the table to be treated as a fixed length
record file on hosts that support this file type and as a normal
text file on other hosts.
All gazetteer information is included on all volumes of the
Magellan full-resolution collection. The gazetteer table is
located in the directory GAZETTER under the name GAZETTER.TAB
(file: [GAZETTER]GAZETTER.TAB). The label file is named
GAZETTER.LBL under the same directory. The gazetteer has two
feature name fields with and without diacritical marks. The
first is SEARCH_FEATURE_NAME which is the geographical feature
name with all diacritical marks stripped off. This name is
stored in upper case only so that it can be used for sorting and
search purposes. This field should not be used to designate the
name of the feature because it does not contain the diacritical
marks. Feature names not containing diacritical marks can often
take on a completely different meaning and in some cases the
meaning can be deeply offensive. The second field is called
DIACRITIC_FEATURE_NAME which is the geographical feature name
containing standard diacritical information. Please refer to
Appendix 3 for list of gazetteer diacritical marks. A
description of the gazetteer follows in Appendix 1.
APPENDIX 1
KEY TO GAZETTEER FIELDS
NAME DATA DESCRIPTION
TYPE
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SEARCH_FEATURE_NAME CHAR The geographical
feature name with all
diacritical marks
stripped off. This
name is stored in
upper case only so
that it can be used
for sorting and search
purposes.
DIACRITIC_FEATURE_NAME CHAR The geographical
feature name
containing standard
diacritical
information. Refer to
Appendix 3 for a
discussion of the
storage scheme and
specification of
diacritical marks in
this field.
MINIMUM_LATITUDE REAL The minimum_latitude
element specifies
southernmost latitude
of a named feature.
MAXIMUM_LATITUDE REAL The maximum_latitude
element specifies the
northernmost
latitude of a named feature.
WESTERNMOST_LONGITUDE REAL The westernmost_longitude
element specifies the
minimum longitude
of a named feature.
EASTERNMOST_LONGITUDE REAL The easternmost_longitude
element specifies the
maximum longitude
of a named feature.
FEATURE_STATUS_TYPE CHAR The IAU approval
status of the named
feature. Permitted
values are 'PROPOSED',
'PROVISIONAL',
'IAU-APPROVED',
and 'DROPPED'.
FEATURE_TYPE CHAR The IAU feature type
descriptor. Refer to Appendix 2
for type names.
FEATURE_DESCRIPTION CHAR Short description of the
feature name.
APPENDIX 2
DESCRIPTOR TERMS (field: FEATURE_TYPE)
FEATURE (plural) DESCRIPTION
------- -----------
CHASMA (chasmata) Canyon
COLLES Small hill or knob
CORONA (coronae) Ovoid-shaped feature
CRATER Crater
DORSUM (dorsa) Ridge
FARRUM (farra) Pancake-shaped structures
FLUCTUS Flow terrain
LINEA Elongate marking
MONS (montes) Mountain
PATERA (paterae) Shallow crater; scalloped, complex
edge
PLANITIA Low plain
PLANUM (plana) Plateau or high plain
REGIO Region
RETICULUM (reticula) Reticular (netlike) pattern
RUPES Scarp
TERRA Extensive land mass
TESSERA (tesserae) Tile; polygonal ground
THOLUS (tholi) Small domical mountain or hill
VALLIS (valles) Valley
APPENDIX 3
DIACRITICS USED IN THE TABLE
The word diacritic comes from a Greek word meaning to separate.
It refers to the accent marks employed to separate, or
distinguish, one form of pronunciation of a vowel or consonant
from another.
This note is included to familiarize the user with the codes used
to represent diacritics found in the table, and the values
usually associated with them. In the table, the code for a
diacritic is preceded by a backslash and is followed, without a
space, by the letter it is modifying.
This note is organized as follows: the code is listed first,
followed by the name of the accent mark, if applicable; a brief
description of the appearance of the diacritic and a short
narrative on its usage.
\% acute accent; a straight diagonal line extending from upper
right to lower left. The acute accent is used in most
languages to lengthen a vowel; in some, such as Oscan, to
denote an open vowel. The acute is also often used to
indicate the stressed syllable; in some transcriptions it
indicates a palatalized consonant.
\: diaeresis or umlaut; two dots surmounting the letter. In
Romance languages and English, the diaeresis is used to
indicate that consecutive vowels do not form a dipthong (see
below); in modern German and Scandinavian languages, it
denotes palatalization of vowels.
\^ circumflex; a chevron or inverted 'v' shape, with the apex at
the top. Used most often in modern languages to indicate
lengthening of a vowel.
\~ tilde; a curving or waving line above the letter. The tilde
is a form of circumflex. The tilde is used most often in
Spanish to form a palatalized n as in the word 'ano',
pronounced 'anyo'. It is also used occasionally to indicate
nasalized vowels.
\- macron; a straight line above the letter. The macron is used
almost universally to lengthen a vowel.
\u breve; a concave semicircle or 'u' shape surmounting the
letter. Originally used in Greek, the breve indicates a short
vowel.
\o a small circle or 'o' above the letter. Frequently used in
Scandinavian languages to indicate a broad 'o'.
\ae dipthong or ligature; transcribed as two letters in contact
with each other. The dipthong is a combination of vowels that
are pronounced together.
\, cedilla; a curved line surmounted by a vertical line, placed
at the bottom of the letter. The cedilla is used in Spanish
and French to denote a dental, or soft, 'c'. In the new
Turkish transcription, 'c' cedilla has the value of English
'ch'. In Semitic languages, the cedilla under a consonant
indicates that it is emphatic.
\v check or inverted circumflex; a 'v' shape above the letter.
This accent is used widely in Slavic languages to indicate a
palatal articulation, like the consonant sounds in the
English words chapter and shoe and the 'zh' sound in
pleasure.
\. a single dot above the letter. This diacritic denotes
various things; in Lithuanian, it indicates a close long
vowel. In Sanskrit, when used with 'n', it is a velar sound,
as in the English 'sink'; in Irish orthography, it indicates
a fricative consonant (see below).
\' accent grave; a diagonal line (above the letter) extending
from upper left to lower right. The grave accent is used in
French, Spanish and Italian to denote open vowels.
\_ fricative; a horizontal line through a consonant. A
fricative consonant is characterized by a frictional
rustling of the breath as it is emitted.