Guidelines for naming planet’s surface features ‘biased towards men’

Only 32 (2%) out of 1,578 known Moon craters bear a woman’s name.

The guidelines for naming a planet’s surface features are not inclusive enough and are biased towards men, an academic has said, as research shows fewer than 2% of Mars’s craters are named after women (ESA/Nasa/Hubble Space Telescope)

Mon, 20 Nov, 2023 - 11:52

Nilima Marshall, PA Science Reporter

The guidelines for naming a planet’s surface features are not inclusive enough and are biased towards men, an academic has said, as research shows fewer than 2% of Mars’s craters are named after women.

An analysis of the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) database has also revealed that only 32 (2%) out of 1,578 known Moon craters bear a woman’s name.