[/floatr]Asahi: Large crater on Mars to be named after Japanese astrophysicist
A crater on Mars measuring 160 kilometers across will be named after the late astrophysicist Shotaro Miyamoto, according to the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Miyamoto (1912-92), a professor emeritus at Kyoto University, was widely regarded for his planetary observations. The Miyamoto crater is located near the equator of the red planet, which lies about 90 million kilometers from Earth. Scientists are keen to determine why the crater's northern rim is so blurred in photographs. The site has been considered as an area for future exploration by NASA... During the 1970s, Miyamoto was involved in naming locations on the moon and planets. He named a crater on Mercury after prominent novelist Natsume Soseki (1867-1916). Miyamoto will be the second Japanese to have a crater on Mars named after him. Previously, a crater measuring 85 meters in diameter was named after Tsuneo Saeki (1916-96), an amateur observer...more...
