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Saturday, May 5, 2018

Earth and Moon Viewer: Named Features on Solar System Bodies

With release 3.0 on April 17, 2018, Earth and Moon Viewer was extended to become Solar System Explorer, adding imagery of Mercury, Venus, Mars and its moons, Pluto and its moon Charon, and the asteroids Ceres and Vesta. I have now added a database of Named Features on Solar System Bodies, using official nomenclature adopted by the International Astronomical Union's Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature. Features are listed by category (craters, ridges, plains, valleys, etc.) with their latitude, longitude, and diameter (where applicable). Each is a clickable link which displays the feature at the centre of a view 1000 km above the body on which it appears. For example, here is the large Occator crater on asteroid 1 Ceres containing the puzzling bright feature Cerealia Facula. From this initial view, you can pan or zoom using the usual features of Earth and Moon Viewer and, where available, select alternative imagery.

Posted at 13:55 Permalink