After much deliberation, the MESSENGER team and the International Astronomical Union (IAU) are happy to announce the new names for the craters:

Rivera crater named for Diego Rivera, a prominent Mexican painter and muralist from the 1920s to the 1950s -submitted by Ricardo Martinez (Mexico); Rebecca Hare (USA); Arturo Gutierrez (Mexico); and Jose Martinez (USA)

Kulthum crater named for Umm Kulthum, an Egyptian singer, songwriter, and film actress of the 1920s to the 1970s -submitted by Moluk Ba-Isa (Saudi Arabia); Riana Rakotoarimanana (Switzerland); Yehya Hassouna (USA); David Suttles (USA); Thorayya Said Giovannelli (USA); and Matt Giovannelli (USA) 

Enheduanna crater named for Eneduana, an Akkadian princess who lived in the Sumerian city of Ur in ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq).  Regarded by many scholars as possibly the earliest known author and poet -submitted by Gagan Toor  (India)

Karsh crater named for Yousuf Karsh, an Armenian/Canadian and one of the greatest portrait photographers of the twentieth century -submitted by Elizabeth Freeman Rosenzweig (USA)

Carolan crater named for Turlough O’Carolan, an Irish composer during the late 1600s and early 1700s.-submitted by Fergal Donnelly (Belgium); Joseph Brusseau (USA); and Deane Morrison (USA)

Visit the individual crater tabs to find out more about the craters and the artists. 

Visit the Review Process page to find out how the finalists were selected.

Visit the Expert Reviewers page to find out about our reviewers.