Astronomy:Tholus

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Short description: Small domical mountain or hill

In planetary nomenclature, a tholus /ˈθləs/ (pl. tholi /ˈθl/) is a small domical mountain or hill.[1][2] The word is from the Greek θόλος, tholos (pl. tholoi),[3] which means a circular building with a conical or vaulted roof.[4] The Romans transliterated the word into the Latin tholus, which means cupola or dome.[5] In 1973, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) adopted tholus as one of a number of official descriptor terms for topographic features on Mars and other planets and satellites.[6][7] One justification for using neutral Latin or Greek descriptors was that it allowed features to be named and described before their geology or geomorphology could be determined.[8] For example, many tholi appear to be volcanic in origin, but the term does not imply a specific geologic origin.[9] Currently (March 2015), the IAU recognizes 56 descriptor terms.[1] (See Planetary nomenclature.) Tholi are present on Venus, Mars, asteroid 4 Vesta, dwarf planet Ceres, and on Jupiter's moon Io.

Examples of tholi

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Descriptor Terms (Feature Types)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/DescriptorTerms. 
  2. Hargitai H. (2014). "Tholus, Tholi". in H. Hargitai. Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer New York. pp. 1. doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_371-1. ISBN 978-1-4614-9213-9. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9. 
  3. Liddell; Scott (1889). An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon. New York: Harper & Brothers. pp. 368. https://archive.org/stream/intermediategree00lidd#page/n373/mode/1up. 
  4. "Tholus". Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/592746/tholos. 
  5. Simpson, D.P. (1968). Cassell's New Latin Dictionary; Funk & Wagnalls: New York, p. 604.
  6. De Vaucouleurs G.; Davies M.; Dollfus A.; Koval I. K.; Masursky H.; Miyamoto S. et al. (September 1975). "The new Martian nomenclature of the international Astronomical Union". Icarus 26 (1): 85–98. doi:10.1016/0019-1035(75)90146-3. Bibcode1975Icar...26...85D. http://planetologia.elte.hu/ipcd/vaucouleurs.pdf. 
  7. Greeley, R. (1994) Planetary Landscapes, 2nd ed.; Chapman & Hall: New York, pp. 35-36.
  8. Russell, J.F.; Snyder, C.W.; Kieffer, H.H. (1992). Origin and Use of Martian Nomenclature in Mars, H.H. Kieffer et al., Eds.; University of Arizona Press: Tucson, AZ, p. 1310.
  9. Russell, J.F.; Snyder, C.W.; Kieffer, H.H. (1992). Origin and Use of Martian Nomenclature in Mars, H.H. Kieffer et al., Eds.; University of Arizona Press: Tucson, AZ, p. 1312.

External links