CRATER ON MERCURY NAMED AFTER JOHN LENNON

The International Astronomical Union has named a crater on Mercury after John Lennon.

The late former-Beatle was given the honour along with nine other individuals, who were noted for their contributions to art and culture.

They join 114 other craters named since Nasa's Messenger Spacecraft first flew past the planet closest to our Sun in 2008. The craters are named not only because it is "fun", but because it makes identifying specific areas much less laborious than just using coordinates.

All of the craters on Mercury are named after "deceased artists, musicians, painters, and authors who have made outstanding or fundamental contributions to their field and have been recognised as art historically significant figures for more than 50 years".

"The Messenger team is delighted that the IAU has named an additional 10 impact craters on Mercury,” said Messenger Principal Investigator Sean Solomon. "We are particularly pleased that eight of the 10 individuals honoured made all or many of their artistic contributions in the Twentieth Century, the same century in which the MESSENGER mission was conceived, proposed, and approved for flight. Imagine."