Balrog Macula
Appearance
Feature type | Dark region |
---|---|
Location | Pluto |
Coordinates | 10°S 80°W / 10°S 80°W |
Eponym | Balrog |
Balrog Macula /ˈbælrɒɡ/ is the largest of the "Brass Knuckles", a series of equatorial dark regions on Pluto.
It is the largest dark equatorial feature on Pluto after the Belton Regio, and is located in the middle of the leading hemisphere.
It is named after the balrogs, a race of demons in the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien.[1][2]
References
- ^ Chang, Kenneth (14 July 2015). "NASA's New Horizons Spacecraft Completes Flyby of Pluto". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
- ^ Rogers, Adam (14 July 2015). "The New, Nerdy Mythology of Pluto's Place Names". Wired. Retrieved 14 July 2015.