Science

NASA wants to name parts of Pluto’s moon after Star Wars

Kelly Dickerson

2015-09-28T21:32:00Z

Pluto's moon Charon might become a nerd's paradise if NASA has anything to say about it.

It's already settled that Pluto's landscape features must have names that come from underworld mythology like its rocky region called "Cthulu regio" (from H.P. Lovecraft's writing) and its dark spot called "Balrog macula" (from "Lord of the Rings").

But the door is wide open for Charon's craters, mountains, and plains, and NASA really went to geek town on its proposed names. They reference popular sci-fi works like "Star Wars," "2001: A Space Odyssey," and "Star Trek."

They aren't official yet, but we really hope these are the names that get approved. Keep scrolling to see Charon's features and which sci-fi stories they reference.

(NASA even has a spreadsheet that explains all the names if you want more details.)

Here's the map in all its nerd glory. Though they are still provisional, "we have a decent chance of getting these names approved," New Horizons planetary scientist Mark Showalter told Mashable.

Source: Mashable.

The craters Vader, Skywalker and Leia Organa are named after the "Star Wars" characters. The Vader crater, of course, is darker than the other two.

And if you have "Star Wars" represented, you can't leave out "Star Trek." So the Spock, Kirk, Sulu, and Uhura craters are sprinkled over the Vulcan plane.

The Ripley crater and Nostromo chasma reference the movie "Alien."

Serenity chasma is named after the ship in Joss Whedon's beloved cult hit "Firefly."

And since Pluto got a "Lord of the Rings" reference, it seems only fitting that its moon has one too — the huge dark spot on Charon's north pole is called Mordor macula.

There's also the Clarke and Kubrick mountains named for the author (Arthur C. Clarke) and director (Stanley Kubrick) of "2001: A Space Odyssey."

There's also Alice for "Alice in Wonderland," Argo named for a ship from Greek mythology, and others from lesser known novels, folktales, and mythology. You can use the NASA spreadsheet to find the explanation for the rest.

Star Wars