Mercury crater to be named after Khalil Gibran
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) recently approved a proposal from the MESSENGER Science Team to confer the name of Lebanese writer and painter Gibran Khalil Gibran on an impact crater on Mercury, Lebanese media reported on Monday.
The Gibran crater and 15 other newly named craters were imaged during the mission’s first two flybys of Mercury in January and October last year. “Having names for these features will help to improve communication among those studying the planet’s geology,” says MESSENGER Participating Scientist Dave Blewett, of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, in Laurel, Maryland.
The National News Agency said Lebanese scientist at the university Nelly Moawad had suggested naming one of the craters Gibran. The Union has been the arbiter of planetary and satellite nomenclature since its inception in 1919. In keeping with the established naming theme for craters on Mercury, all of the craters are named after famous deceased artists, musicians or authors.