[meteorite-list] Tooting Crater on Mars

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/display.var.631119.0.tooting_lands_on_mar.php

Tooting lands on Mars
By Sarah Halls 
This is Local London
September 16, 2005

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.