What's in a name? [ http://the-tech.mit…] Since 1919, the International Astronomical Union [ http://www.intastun…] has been charged with the task [ http://the-tech.mit…] of establishing "conventional" nomenclature [ http://wwwflag.wr.u…] for planets, satellites, and surface features. For the remote Uranian system [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of moons, namesakes from Shakespearean works [ http://the-tech.mit…] have been chosen. Thus Oberon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], king of the mid-summer night fairies, is also Uranus' most distant and second largest moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Hamlet is the tragically dark, large and princely crater on its surface [ http://wwwflag.wr.u…] (right of center). The above image represents known surface features of Oberon [ http://wwwflag.wr.u…] and was constructed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) based on data from NASA's robot explorer Voyager 2 [ http://vraptor.jpl.…]. In 1986, Voyager 2 flew through the Uranian system [ http://vraptor.jpl.…] - so far it has been the only spacecraft to do so [ http://nssdc.gsfc.n…UR_Voyager_2_page1.h tml ].
Explanation
What's in a name? [ http://the-tech.mit…] Since 1919, the International Astronomical Union [ http://www.intastun…] has been charged with the task [ http://the-tech.mit…] of establishing "conventional" nomenclature [ http://wwwflag.wr.u…] for planets, satellites, and surface features. For the remote Uranian system [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of moons, namesakes from Shakespearean works [ http://the-tech.mit…] have been chosen. Thus Oberon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], king of the mid-summer night fairies, is also Uranus' most distant and second largest moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Hamlet is the tragically dark, large and princely crater on its surface [ http://wwwflag.wr.u…] (right of center). The above image represents known surface features of Oberon [ http://wwwflag.wr.u…] and was constructed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) based on data from NASA's robot explorer Voyager 2 [ http://vraptor.jpl.…]. In 1986, Voyager 2 flew through the Uranian system [ http://vraptor.jpl.…] - so far it has been the only spacecraft to do so [ http://nssdc.gsfc.n…UR_Voyager_2_page1.h tml ].
