Johannes Kepler and Gulliver Places Name Phobian Plain, Region, Ridge

Summary: Johannes Kepler and Gulliver places name a plain (Lagado Planitia), a region (Laputa Regio) and a ridge (Kepler Dorsum) on Martian moon Phobos.

image of Martian natural satellite Phobos, with (lower right) Stickney, largest Phobian crater, and (upper right) Dorsum Kepler; second of two images taken Sunday, March 23, 2008, at a distance of about 5,800 kilometers (about 3,600 miles), by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter; color presentation achieved by combination of camera's blue-green, red, and near-infrared channels; image credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona; NASA JPL Photojournal image addition date 2008-04-09: Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech, May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL Photojournal PIA10369

Seventeenth-century Scientific Revolution astronomer Johannes Kepler and places in Jonathan Swfit's early 18th-century satirical travelogue, Gulliver's Travels, give their names to Martian moon Phobos as a plain, Lagado Planitia; a region, Laputa Regio; and a ridge, Kepler Dorsum.

The naming of a Phobian ridge after Johannes Kepler (Dec. 27, 1571-Nov. 15, 1630) acknowledges the 17th-century Scientific Revolution German polymathic scientist's contributions to areology (Ancient Greek: Ἄρης, Ares, God of War; suffix -λογία, -logía, "study"; English suffix -ology), the scientific study of the solar system's fourth planet from the sun. Identifying and explaining the ellipticity of the Martian orbit, as presented in Astronomia Nova (New Astronomy), published in 1609, numbers among Kepler's discoveries.

Dorsum Kepler commemorates the Mars-interested mathematical astronomer. Dorsum etymologizes from Latin dorsum (plural: dorsa) for "the back" or for a wrinkle ridge. The low, meandering landform is described succinctly as "Ridge" in "Descriptor Terms (Feature Types)" by the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, the online database administered by the International Astronomical Union and maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Science Center.

Dorsum Kepler is centered at minus 45.00 degrees south latitude, 356.00 degrees west longitude. The southern hemisphere landform perimeterizes its northmost and southmost latitudes at minus 22.00 degrees south and minus 30.00 degrees south, respectively. It obtains eastmost and westmost longitudes of minus 0.00 degrees and 360.00 degrees, respectively. Dorsum Kepler's diameter measures 15.00 kilometers.

The naming of a flat expanse of Phobian land and of a specific geographic area on the Phobian surface after fictitious places depicted in Gulliver's Travels, or Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World In Four Parts, recognizes the imaginative work's realistic prediction of the existence of two Martian natural satellites. Anglo-Irish author, essayist, poet and satirist Jonathan Swift (Nov. 30, 1667-Oct. 19, 1745) published his prose satire masterpiece in 1726 under the pseudonym of Lemuel Gulliver. He identified his alter ego in the travelogue's byline as "First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships."

Lagado Planitia derives its proper name from Lagado, the capital of Balnibari. The unfortunate island nation is introduced in Part III, "A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibari, Glubbdubdrib, Luggnagg, Japan, and [Amsterdam]."

Planitia etymologizes from Latin planitia (plural: planitiae) for a flat plain. The landform is defined as "low plain" in "Descriptor Terms (Feature Types)."

Lagado Planitia is centered at 19.00 degrees north latitude, 231.00 degrees west longitude. The northern hemisphere landform's northmost and southmost latitudes reach 28.00 degrees north and 10.00 degrees north, respectively. Its eastmost and westmost longitudes touch 220.00 degrees west and 242.00 degrees west, respectively. Lagado Planitia has a diameter of 4.00 kilometers.

Laputa Regio borrows its name from the flying island nation of Laputa, which hovers above Balnibri. Laputian skygazers excel in astronomy. Laputian astronomers achieve their advanced celestial observations via ". . . glasses far excelling ours in goodness. For although their largest telescopes do not exceed three feet, they magnify much more than those of an hundred-yards among us, and at the same time show the stars with greater clearness." Such clarity and magnification have facilitated the Laputian discovery of ". . . two lesser stars, or satellites, which revolve about Mars" (Part III A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibari, Glubbdubdrib, Luggnagg, Japan, and [Amsterdam], Chapter Three, page 173).

Regio etymologizes from Latin regio (plural: regiones) for a geographic region. The landform references "A large area marked by reflectivity or color distinctions from adjacent areas, or a broad geographic region," as defined in "Descriptor Terms (Feature Types)."

Laputa Regio is centered at 0.00 degrees latitude, 265.0 degrees west longitude. The equator-straddling region's northmost and southmost latitudes equidistantly stretch from 25.00 degrees north to minus 25.00 degrees south, respectively. Its eastmost and westmost longitudes extend from 230.00 degrees west to 302.00 degrees west, respectively. Laputa Regio's diameter spans 14.00 kilometers.

The southern Phobian hemisphere's Dorsum Kepler lies to the southwest of equator-straddling Laputa Regio. The northern hemisphere's Lagado Planitia is positioned alongside northeastern Laputa Regio.

The International Astronomical Union has approved the Phobian landform names of Dorsum Kepler, Lagado Planitia and Laputa Regio. Kepler was adopted as the official name of the Phobian dorsum in 1987. Lagado Planitia and Laputa Regio share an IAU-approval date of Thursday, July 28, 2011.

distinctive, largest Phobian crater Stickney (center inner left), Dorsum Keper (lower center), Laputa Regio (center right) and Lagado Planitia (center right; alongside northeastern Laputa Regio) in Phobos Mars Express HRSC Color Shaded Relief 100m v1; colorized shaded-relief of original High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) Digital Elevation Model (DEM), with a resolution of 100 meters per pixel (m), obtained by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express space exploration mission; K. Willner; J. Oberst; H. Hussmann; B. Giese; H. Hoffman; K.-D. Matz; T. Roatsch; and T. Duxbury, "Phobos control point network, rotation, and shape," Earth and Planetary Science Letters, vol. 294, nos. 3–4 (2010): 541-546: access constraints Public Domain, use constraints Please cite authors, via U.S. Astrogeology Science Center

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Dedication

This post is dedicated to the memory of our beloved blue-eyed brother, Charles, who guided the creation of the Met Opera and Astronomy posts on Earth and Space News. We memorialized our brother in "Our Beloved Blue-Eyed Brother, Charles, With Whom We Are Well Pleased," published on Earth and Space News on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, an anniversary of our beloved father's death.

Image credits:

image of Martian natural satellite Phobos, with (lower right) Stickney, largest Phobian crater, and (upper right) Dorsum Kepler; second of two images taken Sunday, March 23, 2008, at a distance of about 5,800 kilometers (about 3,600 miles), by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter; color presentation achieved by combination of camera's blue-green, red, and near-infrared channels; image credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona; NASA JPL Photojournal image addition date 2008-04-09: Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech, May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL Photojournal PIA10369 @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA10369

distinctive, largest Phobian crater Stickney (center inner left), Dorsum Keper (lower center), Laputa Regio (center right) and Lagado Planitia (center right; alongside northeastern Laputa Regio) in Phobos Mars Express HRSC Color Shaded Relief 100m v1; colorized shaded-relief of original High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) Digital Elevation Model (DEM), with a resolution of 100 meters per pixel (m), obtained by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express space exploration mission; K. Willner; J. Oberst; H. Hussmann; B. Giese; H. Hoffman; K.-D. Matz; T. Roatsch; and T. Duxbury, "Phobos control point network, rotation, and shape," Earth and Planetary Science Letters, vol. 294, nos. 3–4 (2010): 541-546: access constraints Public Domain, use constraints Please cite authors, via U.S. Astrogeology Science Center @ https://astrogeology.usgs.gov/search/map/Phobos/MarsExpress/HRSC/Phobos_ME_HRSC_ClrShade_Global_2ppd

For further information:

Donahue, William H., ed. and trans. Johannes Kepler New Astronomy. Cambridge [England]; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Gulliver, Lemuel (Jonathan Swift). "They spend the greatest part of their lives in observing the celestial bodies, which they do by the assistance of glasses far excelling ours in goodness. For although their largest telescopes do not exceed three feet, they magnify much more than those of an hundred-yards among us, and at the same time show the stars with greater clearness. This advantage hath enabled them to extend their discoveries much farther than our astronomers in Europe. They have made a catalogue of ten thousand fixed stars, whereas the largest of ours do not contain above one third part of that number. They have likewise discovered two lesser stars, or satellites, which revolve about Mars, whereof the innermost is distant from the center of the primary planet exactly three of his diameters, and the outermost five; the former revolves in the space of ten hours, and the latter in twenty-one and an half; so that the squares of their periodical times are very near in the same proportion with the cubes of their distance from the center of Mars, which evidently shows them to be governed by the same law of graviation that influences the other heavenly bodies." Part III A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibari, Glubbdubdrib, Luggnagg, Japan, and [Amsterdam], Chapter Three, page 173. Travels Into Several Remote Nations of the World In Four Parts. Second Edition. London: Printed for Benj. Motte, at the Middle Temple Gate in Fleet Street, MDCCXXVII [1735].
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Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/DescriptorTerms

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Kepler Dorsum.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars System > Phobos. Last updated Nov 29, 2006 7:55 AM.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/Kepler%20Dorsum

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Lagado Planitia.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Aug 01, 2011 9:17 AM.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/Lagado%20Planitia

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Laputa Regio.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars System > Phobos. Last updated Jul 28, 2011 10:52 AM.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/Laputa%20Regio

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Planitia, planitiae PL. Low plain." USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Documentation > Descriptor Terms > Descriptor Terms (Feature Types) > Feature (Designation) / Description. Last updated Jul 28, 2011 10:52 AM.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/DescriptorTerms

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Regio, regiones RE. A large area marked by reflectivity or color distinctions from adjacent areas, or a broad geographic region." USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Documentation > Descriptor Terms > Descriptor Terms (Feature Types) > Feature (Designation) / Description. Last updated Jul 28, 2011 10:52 AM.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/DescriptorTerms

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “PIA10369: Phobos from 5,800 Kilometers (Color).” NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology. Image credit ASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona. Image addition date 2008-04-09.
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