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Tooting lands on Mars
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| What Tooting on Mars might look like |
We always knew Tooting was going places, but who would have thought it would end up on Mars?
A crater on the red planet is now officially called Tooting, after a former Trinity Road resident who works for Nasa decided to name it after his favourite place in Britain.
Planetary scientist Pete Mouginis-Mark, 53, who lived in Tooting until 1970, said: "I named the crater Tooting because I thought my mum and brother would get a kick out of having their home town paired with a landform on Mars.
"You're not allowed to name features after living people, you have to have been dead for at least seven years.
"Tooting Crater on Mars is actually getting a lot of scientific attention because it is probably the youngest large meteorite crater on Mars.
"I have proposed to Nasa to produce a formal geological map of Tooting Crater that will then be published as a map by the US Geological Survey."
Mr Mouginis-Mark, who studies the geology of Mars and meteorite craters and is acting director of the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, said Tooting is 28km across and is found at latitude 23.1N, 152.4W.
It was formed in lava flows from a volcano called Olympus Mons, which is the biggest on Mars.
There are several volcanic meteorites on Earth that came from Mars and scientists believe by doing more detailed studies of Tooting Crater, they may be able to better understand the Martian meteorites on this planet.
The crater also formed very close to a small river valley. This is another reason why Mr Mouginis-Mark called it Tooting.
He said it reminded him of Tooting Bec, and the International Astronomical Union liked the idea of naming a crater after a place that is also mentioned in the Domesday Book.
Tooting Councillor Stuart King said Tooting's reputation had made it the perfect choice.
He said: "This comes as no surprise to those of us who have always known that Tooting was out of this world."
The name of the crater has been officially approved by the International Astronomical Union.
Tooting town centre manager Audrey Helps said: "There are a lot of craters on Mars.
"When I looked at the official list of them, it was very long. But what does it matter it's still exciting. We are now officially twinned with Mars."
Enthusiasts can find the crater's listing at http://
planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/mars/marscrat.html.
shalls@london.newsquest.co.uk
7:49am Friday 16th September 2005
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CommentPosted by: Maggie Jones on 3:50pm Sat 29 Sep 07
Hello, I have just copied this photo into flick group 'Tooting' as it's such a great photo then I realised I do not have your permission! So if it's ok with you, can I copy if? If not I will immediately take it off.
Cheers
Maggie
Hello, I have just copied this photo into flick group 'Tooting' as it's such a great photo then I realised I do not have your permission! So if it's ok with you, can I copy if? If not I will immediately take it off.
Cheers
Maggie
Posted by: Maggie Jones on 3:51pm Sat 29 Sep 07
Sorry, I mean flickr.com
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