IAU descriptor term
Tesserae in the Solar System
Tessera is the term planetary geologists use for terrain deformed into a tile-like pattern of ridges and grooves. 65 named features carry it, across 1 of the 14 mapped worlds, the largest being Sudenitsa Tesserae on Venus at 4,200 km.
Where they are
The largest tesserae anywhere
Ranked across every mapped world, by catalogued diameter.
1Sudenitsa TesseraeVenus4,200 km2Manatum TesseraVenus3,800 km3Fortuna TesseraVenus2,801 km4Haasttse baad TesseraVenus2,600 km5Tellus TesseraVenus2,329 km6Athena TesseraVenus1,800 km7Gegute TesseraVenus1,600 km8Cocomama TesseraVenus1,600 km9Chimon mana TesseraVenus1,500 km10Bathkol TesseraVenus1,485 km11Senectus TesseraeVenus1,400 km12Tushita TesseraeVenus1,400 km13Dekla TesseraVenus1,363 km14Manzan Gurme TesseraeVenus1,354 km15Lahevhev TesseraeVenus1,300 km16Minu Anni TesseraVenus1,300 km17Xi Wang mu TesseraVenus1,300 km18Shimti TesseraVenus1,275 km19Jyestha TesseraeVenus1,252 km20Likho TesseraeVenus1,200 km21Nedolya TesseraeVenus1,200 km22Pasom mana TesseraeVenus1,200 km23Vako nana TesseraeVenus1,200 km24Yuki Onne TesseraVenus1,200 km25Dolya TesseraVenus1,100 km26Husbishag TesseraeVenus1,100 km27Ananke TesseraVenus1,060 km28Meskhent TesseraVenus1,056 km29Kruchina TesseraeVenus1,000 km30Nuahine TesseraVenus1,000 km
What they are named after
Naming themes are set per world, so one descriptor can draw on very different sources depending on where it sits. Across all 65 tesserae, 34 categories appear.
Greek10Slavic5Roman4Egypt4Semitic3Lithuania3China3Hopi2