Pluto surface feature named 'Balrog'
 

It's clear where the New Horizons mission scientists come down on the Balrog wing question -- those things stretch from Ala to Vucub Camé. :)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CJ7Wy-BUwAAYf6l.jpg:large

Ha, I saw that! It's nice to have Tolkien's work immortalized in such a way. If they name something after Tauriel though, I'm going to blow it up! :D

Considering that Pluto's features tend to be named after gods and demons of the Underworld, that's perfectly likely.:p

Do they have a Morgoth and Sauron already?

Not positive about that, but they did "see" the Eye of Sauron in space at one point. Also, they named a lizard (I think?) after something Tolkien, but I forget what.

Well, there are
two different genera named after Ancalagon the Black, but oddly, neither is a lizard.

There was an article last year about how many scientific agencies (is that the proper word?) have been named after the things in Tolkien's world. Mountains on Titan are named after his characters. In fact one of the things (I don't remember exactly what) has been named after Sauron (having a full form and "Sauron" being its acronym). I must say Science becomes far more interesting with it!

Ok, not exactly within this thread topic, and I know there was a better thread for this somewhere in N&N, but it's buried deep and I forgot what it's called...

Anyways, here is an excerpt from my biology textbook:

Oh yeah! :cool:

I read in a magazine last month that a dark area on Pluto has been named after Mordor

Cool!

I realize that there are comparatively few discoveries named after things from Tolkien's books, and that most of these are too minor to be cared about by the majority of the population. But it just makes me so happy that somewhere out there sits a nerd who makes a life-not-changing discovery and decides, "Heck, let's name it after Tolkien!". Way to go!

I'm naming the pothole down the street "Tauriel". ;)