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]
 The Brass Knuckles chain of equatorial dark regions on Pluto, with Sharaf Regio labeled as "Ala" | |
| Feature type | Regio |
|---|---|
| Location | Pluto |
| Coordinates | 11°23′S 238°40′E / 11.38°S 238.67°E |
| Eponym | Shafika Gil’mievna Sharaf |
References
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ "Sharaf Regio". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. IAU/NASA/USGS. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
- ^ Gil’mievna, Shafika; Budnikova, N. A. (1969). Theory of Motion of the Planet Pluto Part 1. NASA.
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