Jump to content

Sharaf Regio

Coordinates: 11°23′S 238°40′E / 11.38°S 238.67°E / -11.38; 238.67
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Ala (Pluto))
Sharaf Regio
The Brass Knuckles chain of equatorial dark regions on Pluto, with Sharaf Regio labeled as "Ala"
Feature typeRegio
LocationPluto
Coordinates11°23′S 238°40′E / 11.38°S 238.67°E / -11.38; 238.67
EponymShafika Gil’mievna Sharaf

Sharaf Regio (formerly Ala Macula) is the smallest of the "Brass Knuckles", a series of equatorial dark regions on Pluto. It was initially informally named Ala Macula after Ala [àlà] "earth", the chthonic and most important deity of the Igbo people.[1][2] The International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially approved the name Sharaf Regio after Shafika Gil’mievna Sharaf, a Soviet astronomer who developed an analytical theory for Pluto's motion.[3][4]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Chang, Kenneth (14 July 2015). "NASA's New Horizons Spacecraft Completes Flyby of Pluto". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  2. ^ Rogers, Adam (14 July 2015). "The New, Nerdy Mythology of Pluto's Place Names". Wired. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  3. ^ "Sharaf Regio". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. IAU/NASA/USGS. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  4. ^ Gil’mievna, Shafika; Budnikova, N. A. (1969). Theory of Motion of the Planet Pluto Part 1. NASA.