Virgil Fossae (Pluto)

Data as of 2026-10-23

What it is

Type
Fossa, fossae
IAU definition

Long, narrow depression

Diameter
710 km, 60 % of the radius of its body
Centre
5.23° N, 122.76° east (planetocentric latitude, east longitude from 0 to 360°, the IAU convention)
Name adopted
August 8, 2017
Origin of the name

Italian; Dante’s guide through Hell and Purgatory in the Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri (1265–1321).

Quoted in English, as the IAU publishes it.

In Galaxy

See it in Galaxy

Opens its body in the application, the camera turned towards Virgil Fossae.

Missions to its body

No observation record of this formation is crossed here. These are the missions the Planetary Data System declares for its body; none is claimed to have observed Virgil Fossae.

Sources

International Astronomical Union Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, read on October 23, 2026. Feature page: https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15675

Type definitions: IAU Descriptor Terms, read on October 17, 2026. https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/DescriptorTerms

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