Eight Phobian Craters Are Named for Characters in Gulliver's Travels

Summary: Eight Phobian craters recall Clustril, Drunlo, Flimnap, Grildrig, Gulliver, Limtoc, Reldresal and Skyresh as characters in Swift's Gulliver's Travels.

Grildrig Crater on Martian moon Phobos references the name given to Lemuel Gulliver, narrator of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travel, in Brobdingnag, the Land of the Giants by the nine-year-old farmer's daughter, to whom Gulliver gives the name of Glumdalclitch; "Glumdalclitch teaches Gulliver to read," 1900 illustration by English book illustrator Arthur Rackham (Sep. 19, 1867-Sep. 6, 1939), page 85, Gulliver's Travels Into Several Remote Nations of the World (first published 1899; reprinted 1939): Not in copyright, via Internet Archive

Eight Phobian craters are named after characters Clustril, Drunlo, Flimnap, Grildrig, Gulliver, Limtoc, Reldresal and Skyresh in Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift's 1726-published prose satire under the pseudonym of fictitious ship captain Lemuel Gulliver.

All eight of the Gulliverian character-inspired Phobian craters received official adoption by the International Astronomical Union on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2008. The assignment of names from Gulliver's Travels recognizes the prose satire's description of two natural satellites in the Martian system approximately 151 years before the August 1877 discoveries of Deimos and Phobos by American astronomer Asaph Hall III (Oct. 15, 1829-Nov. 22, 1907). The astronomers on the Gulliverian flying island of Laputa possess magnificent skygazing instruments that have ". . . 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 . . ." (Part III A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibari, Glubbdubdrib, Luggnagg, Japan, and [Amsterdam], Chapter Three, page 173).

Clustril Crater references an inhabitant of the South Indian Ocean's fictional island nation of Lilliput. Clustril "informed Flimnap that his wife had visited Gulliver privately," as described by the geologic feature's entry on the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) online Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Clustril Crater is centered at 60.00 degrees north latitude, 91.00 degrees west longitude. The northern hemisphere crater posts northmost and southmost latitudes of 71.00 degrees north and 49.00 degrees north, respectively. It marks its eastmost and westmost longitudes at 70.00 degrees west and 112.00 degrees west, respectively. Clustril Crater's diameter measures 3.40 kilometers.

Drunlo Crater refers to another Lilliputian who "informed Flimnap that his wife had visited Gulliver privately." The two informants occur as neighboring craters on Phobos.

Drunlo Crater is centered at 36.50 degrees north latitude, 92.00 degrees west longitude. The northern hemisphere crater obtains northmost and southmost latitudes at 49.00 degrees north and 24.00 degrees north, respectively. It expresses eastmost and westmost longitudes of 76.00 degrees west and 109.00 degrees west, respectively. Drunlo Crater's diameter measures 4.20 kilometers.

Flimnap Crater recalls the treasurer of Lilliput. Flimnap Crater lies to the east of Clustril Crater and to the northeast of Drunlo Crater.

Flimnap Crater is centered at 60.00 degrees north latitude, 350.00 degrees west longitude. The northern hemisphere crater finds its northmost and southmost latitudes at 64.00 degrees north and 56.00 degrees north, respectively. It defines its eastmost and westmost longitudes at minus 0.00 degrees and 360.00 degrees west, respectively. Flimnap Crater has a diameter of 1.50 kilometers.

Grildrig Crater represents "Name given to Gulliver by the farmer's daughter in the giants’ country Brobdingnag." Northeastern Grildrig Crater snuggles neighborly alongside northwestern Gulliver Crater.

Grildrig Crater is centered at 81.00 degrees north latitude, 195.00 degrees west longitude. The northern hemisphere crater achieves northmost and southmost latitudes of 89.00 degrees north and 73.00 degrees north, respectively. Its eastmost and westmost longitudes occur at 120.00 degrees west and 270.00 degrees west, respectively. Grildrig Crater has a diameter of 2.60 kilometers.

Gulliver Crater on Martian moon Phobos honors Ship Captain Lemuel Gulliver, fictitious author of Jonathan Swift's 1726-pseudonymously published prose satire, Gulliver's Travels; portrait of "Lemuel Gulliver of Redriff" by English engravers Robert Sheppard (fl. 1730-1740) and John Sturt (April 6, 1658-August 1730) in first edition of Travels Into Several Remote Nations of the World (1726): Free to use without restriction, via New York Public Library Digital Collections

Gulliver Crater honors "Lemuel Gulliver, surgeon, captain, and voyager," who pseudonymizes Jonathan Swift's authorship of the satirical travelogue. Gulliver Crater touches northwestern neighbor Grildrig Crater and resides close to eastern neighbor Clustril Crater.

Gulliver Crater is centered at 62.00 degrees north latitude, 163.00 degrees west longitude. The northern hemisphere crater's northmost and southmost latitudes reach 79.00 degrees north and 45.00 degrees north, respectively. Its eastmost and westmost longitudes extend from 126.00 west to 200.00 degrees west, respectively. Gulliver Crater's diameter spans 5.50 kilometers.

Limtoc Crater evokes the Lilliputian general "who prepared articles of impeachment against Gulliver." Ensconced within Stickney Crater, Limtoc Crater lies to the southeast of Drunlo Crater and to the south-southwest of Reldresal Crater.

Limtoc Crater is centered at minus 11.00 degrees south latitude, 54.00 degrees west longitude. The southern hemisphere crater experiences northmost and southmost latitudes of minus 6.00 degrees south and minus 16.00 degrees south, respectively. It limits its eastmost and westmost longitudes to 48.00 degrees west and 60.00 degrees west, respectively. Limtoc Crater has a diameter of 2.00 kilometers.

Reldresal Crater remembers "Secretary for Private Affairs in Lilliput; Gulliver's friend." Reldresal Crater is sited to the east of informant-named craters Clustril and Drunlo and to the southwest of Flimnap and Skyresh craters.

Reldresal Crater is centered at 41.00 degrees north latitude, 39.00 degrees west longitude. The northern hemisphere crater establishes its northmost and southmost latitudes at 49.00 degrees north and 33.00 degrees north, respectively. Its eastmost and westmost longitudes stretch from 27.00 degrees west to 51.00 degrees west, respectively. Reldresal Crater's diameter measures 2.90 kilometers.

Skyresh Crater is named for "Skyresh Bolgolam, High Admiral of the Lilliput council who opposed Gulliver’s plea for freedom and accused him of being a traitor." Skyresh Crater is located to the east-southeast of Flimnap Crater.

Skyresh Crater is centered at 52.50 degrees north latitude, 320.00 degrees west longitude. The northern hemisphere crater specifies northmost and southmost latitudes of 57.00 degrees north and 48.00 degrees north, respectively. Its eastmost and westmost longitudes span 313.00 degrees west to 327.00 degrees west, respectively. Skyresh Crater has a diameter of 1.50 kilometers.

Gulliver Crater's diameter of 5.50 kilometers qualifies it as the largest of the eight Gulliverian character-inspired craters on Phobos. With identical diameters of 1.50 kilometers, Flimnap and Skyresh craters tie as the smallest of the eight Gulliverian character-inspired Phobian craters.

image of Stickney Crater, with Limtoc Crater inside (top center), obtained March 23, 2008, from a distance of 6,800 kilometers (about 4,200 miles), by NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s (MRO) High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera; HiRISE catalog no. PSP_007769_9010; NASA JPL Photojournal PIA10368 image credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona, image addition date 2008-04-09: Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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:

Grildrig Crater on Martian moon Phobos references the name given to Lemuel Gulliver, narrator of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travel, in Brobdingnag, the Land of the Giants by the nine-year-old farmer's daughter, to whom Gulliver gives the name of Glumdalclitch; "Glumdalclitch teaches Gulliver to read," 1900 illustration by English book illustrator Arthur Rackham (Sep. 19, 1867-Sep. 6, 1939), page 85, Gulliver's Travels Into Several Remote Nations of the World (first published 1899; reprinted 1939): Not in copyright, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/gulliverstravels00swif/page/85/mode/1up

Gulliver Crater on Martian moon Phobos honors Ship Captain Lemuel Gulliver, fictitious author of Jonathan Swift's 1726-pseudonymously published prose satire, Gulliver's Travels; portrait of "Lemuel Gulliver of Redriff" by English engravers Robert Sheppard (fl. 1730-1740) and John Sturt (April 6, 1658-August 1730) in first edition of Travels Into Several Remote Nations of the World (1726): Free to use without restriction, via New York Public Library Digital Collections @ https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/8bd6d6ed-3407-f3d3-e040-e00a1806622a; Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig (ubleipzig), Public Domain, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ubleipzig/16843969259/; via Digitaler Portrait Index @ https://portraitindex.de/documents/obj/33203155

image of Stickney Crater, with Limtoc Crater inside (top center), obtained March 23, 2008, from a distance of 6,800 kilometers (about 4,200 miles), by NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s (MRO) High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera; HiRISE catalog no. PSP_007769_9010; NASA JPL Photojournal PIA10368 image credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona, image addition date 2008-04-09: Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stickney_mro.jpg; Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech, May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL Photojournal PIA10368 @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA10368

For further information:

Duxbury, Thomas C.; and John D. Callahan. "Pole and prime meridian expressions for Phobos and Deimos." The Astronomical Journal, vol. 86, no. 11 (November 1981): 1722-1727. DOI 10.1086/113056.
Available via Harvard ADSABS (NASA Astrophysics Data System Abstracts) @ https://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1981AJ.....86.1722D
Available via Harvard ADSABS (NASA Astrophysics Data System Abstracts) @ https://adsabs.harvard.edu/pdf/1981AJ.....86.1722D
Available via NASA NTRS @ https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19820032688

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].
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/thetravelsofdoctorlemuelgulliverintoremotenationsoftheworld/page/n197/mode/1up

Gulliver, Lemuel (Jonathan Swift). Travels Into Several Remote Nations of the World. London: B. Motte, 1726.

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Clustril.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars System > Phobos. Last updated Mar 01, 2007 2:04 PM.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14257

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Drunlo.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Mar 01, 2007 2:04 PM.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14258

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Flimnap.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars System > Phobos. Last updated Mar 01, 2007 2:04 PM.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14259

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Grildrig.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Nov 17, 2008 3:58 PM
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14260

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Gulliver.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Mar 01, 2007 2:04 PM.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14261

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Limtoc.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars System > Phobos. Last updated Mar 01, 2007 2:04 PM.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14262

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Reldresal.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Mar 01, 2007 2:04 PM.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14263

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Skyresh.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars System > Phobos. Last updated Nov 17, 2008 3:58 PM.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14264

Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “PIA10368: Phobos From 6,800 Kilometers (Color).” NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology. Image addition date: 2008-04-09.
Available @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA10368

Marriner, Derdriu. "Gravity May Reshape Innermost Martian Moonlet Phobos Into Rocky Ring." Earth and Space News. Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/11/gravity-may-reshape-innermost-martian.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Johannes Kepler and Gulliver Places Name Phobian Plain, Region, Ridge." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2024/10/johannes-kepler-and-gulliver-places.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Martian Satellite Deimos Has Two Craters Named Swift and Voltaire." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2024/10/martian-satellite-deimos-has-two.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope Imaged Phobos Orbiting Mars May 12, 2016." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 20, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/05/nasas-hubble-space-telescope-imaged.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Stickney Crater Honors Phobos Discoverer Asaph Hall’s First Wife." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, July 3, 2013.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/07/stickney-crater-honors-phobos.html

Parsons, Alex; Inkleby. "Clustril (Phobos) Character in Lilliput who informed Flimnap that his wife had visited Gulliver privately in Jonathan Swift's novel 'Gulliver's Travels.'" We Name the Stars > Phobos > Feature Type: All Features > Features Associated With Phobos: Crater Clustril.
Available via We Name the Stars @ https://wenamethestars.inkleby.com/feature/14257

Parsons, Alex; Inkleby. "Drunlo (Phobos) Character in Lilliput who informed Flimnap that his wife had visited Gulliver privately in Jonathan Swift's novel 'Gulliver's Travels.'" We Name the Stars > Phobos > Feature Type: All Features > Features Associated With Phobos: Crater Drunlo.
Available via We Name the Stars @ https://wenamethestars.inkleby.com/feature/14258

Parsons, Alex; Inkleby. "Flimnap (Phobos) Treasurer of Lilliput in Jonathan Swift's novel 'Gulliver's Travels.'" We Name the Stars > Phobos > Feature Type: All Features > Features Associated With Phobos: Crater Flimnap.
Available via We Name the Stars @ https://wenamethestars.inkleby.com/feature/14259

Parsons, Alex; Inkleby. "Grildrig (Phobos) Name given to Gulliver by the farmer's daughter in the giants’ country Brobdingnag in Jonathan Swift's novel 'Gulliver's Travels.'" We Name the Stars > Phobos > Feature Type: All Features > Features Associated With Phobos: Crater Grildrig.
Available via We Name the Stars @ https://wenamethestars.inkleby.com/feature/14260

Parsons, Alex; Inkleby. "Gulliver (Phobos) Lemuel Gulliver, surgeon, captain, and voyager in Jonathan Swift's novel 'Gulliver's Travels.'" We Name the Stars > Phobos > Feature Type: All Features > Features Associated With Phobos: Crater Gulliver.
Available via We Name the Stars @ https://wenamethestars.inkleby.com/feature/14261

Parsons, Alex; Inkleby. "Limtoc (Phobos) General in Lilliput who prepared articles of impeachment against Gulliver in Jonathan Swift's novel 'Gulliver's Travels.'" We Name the Stars > Phobos > Feature Type: All Features > Features Associated With Phobos: Crater Limtoc.
Available via We Name the Stars @ https://wenamethestars.inkleby.com/feature/14262

Parsons, Alex; Inkleby. "Reldresal (Phobos) Secretary for Private Affairs in Lilliput; Gulliver's friend in Jonathan Swift's novel 'Gulliver's Travels.'" We Name the Stars > Phobos > Feature Type: All Features > Features Associated With Phobos: Crater Reldresal.
Available via We Name the Stars @ https://wenamethestars.inkleby.com/feature/14263

Parsons, Alex; Inkleby. "Skyresh (Phobos) Skyresh Bolgolam, High Admiral of the Lilliput council who opposed Gulliver’s plea for freedom and accused him of being a traitor in Jonathan Swift's novel 'Gulliver's Travels.'" We Name the Stars > Phobos > Feature Type: All Features > Features Associated With Phobos: Crater Skyresh.
Available via We Name the Stars @ https://wenamethestars.inkleby.com/feature/14264

Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's Travels Into Several Remote Regions of the World. Illustrated by Arthur Rackham. First published in this edition 1899. Reprinted 1939. London: The Temple Press, 1939.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/gulliverstravels00swif/

van der Hucht, Karel, ed. XXVIth General Assembly Transactions of the IAU Vol. XXVI B Proceedings of the 26th General Assembly Prague, Czech Republic, August 14-25, 2006. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press, Dec. 30, 2008.
Available @ https://www.iau.org/publications/iau/transactions_b/