Named Venusian craters

Schaber et al. compiled a database of 841 craters on Venus, based on Magellan coverage of 89 percent of the planet's surface. That database, derived from coverage of approximately 98 percent of Venus' surface, has been expanded to 912 craters, ranging in diameter from 1.5 to 280 km. About 150 of the larger craters were previously identified by Pioneer Venus and Soviet Venera projects and subsequently formally named by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Altogether, the crater names submitted to the IAU for approval to date number about 550, a little more than half of the number of craters identified on Magellan images. The IAU will consider more names as they are submitted for approval. Anyone--planetary scientist or layman--may submit names; however, candidate names must conform to IAU rules. The person to be honored must be deceased for at least three years, must not be a religious figure or a military or political figure of the 19th or 20th century, and, for Venus, must be a woman. All formally and provisionally approved names for Venusian impact craters, along with their latitude, longitude, size, and origin of their name, will be presented at LPSC and will be available as handouts.