Plutocracy

A bunch of the names of surface features of Pluto and its moon Charon have been released.  There are some surprises, given their decision to name a number of things after either fictional places and people, or inanimate objects.  Yes, I realize this is the second time this year alone that I've had a post about naming astronomic stuff. And I'm aware my last one cautioned against taking the task too lightly and naming after the less deserving.  But hey, in the grand scheme of things, it's only a couple of rocks.  Sorry to rub it in, but not even official planets.

The big prize is the "heart" that has become Pluto's trademark. Fittingly, it was named after Clyde Tombaugh, discoverer of Pluto. Too bad it will inevitably become the home to the 22nd-century's sleaziest motels. There were also shoutouts to scientists who worked on the outer solar system (e.g. Oort.) Some of the names were surprisingly dark, such as the huge Cthulhu Regio, named after H.P. Lovecraft's demonic character, even though most sci-fi/fantasy names were relegated to Charon.  But you have to remember that Pluto - for all it's modern association with cute dogs - was the Roman god of the underworld, and Charon the operator of the ferry that takes the dead to the underworld.

My thoughts on the names:

• There were several large areas named after robot spacecraft (such as Voyager and Viking) which seems odd, but I guess it makes sense since this whole mission is made possible by such a craft. I was glad to see Pioneer get some love.  It's always been the Rodney Dangerfield of deep-space probes.
• Not surprisingly, there weren't any obvious references to Pluto, the Disney character.  Any attempts to name things after their characters would cause the company's lawyers to craft an armada to send after New Horizons.  But apparently they're thinking of using Laika as a name for something, which would be nice.
• Maybe it just went over my head but I couldn't find any snide reference to Neil DeGrasse Tyson. 
• Since Charon has lots of science-fiction names on it, and the mythological Charon was a boatman on the river Styx, you'd think they could have fit in a Roboto crater.
• Although the usual suspects dominated the science fiction area of Charon, it was nice to see Macross Chasma.
• Speaking of the usual suspects, there was also a big chasm named "Serentity," after the ship from the short-lived-much-loved show Firefly.  I never cease to be amazed by the love for that show.  Future generations will wonder how it got right up there with Star Wars, Star Trek, Alien, and Doctor Who.
• Also predictably, Stargate got shafted.  Surely an "O'Neill mountain" wouldn't be out of place. 
• If you're going to name a bunch of things on Charon after Star Wars stuff, why not have a feature named, "This Is No Moon." That would look hilarious on maps.
• In the Mass Effect series of video games, Charon turns out to be an ancient alien transportation device.  You'd think they could have worked in a reference to that to make up for the fans' disappointment that it's just a regular moon.
• In the unlikely event they run out of names for things on Charon, how about naming a bunch of mountains after all the pronunciations of "Charon."  You could have Chahron, Kahron, Kairon, Chai-Ron, Shy Ron, Sharon, Karen etc.