Why is it in the news?

• The landing site of Chandrayaan-3’s moon lander Vikram has been named ‘Statio Shiv Shakti’ by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
• The Chandrayaan-3 mission successfully landed on the lunar south pole on 23 August 2023.

 More about the news

• The name originates from Indian mythology, symbolizing the masculine (Shiva) and feminine (Shakti) duality of nature.
• Planetary nomenclature is crucial for uniquely identifying features on planetary surfaces.
• The Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature is maintained by the Astrogeology Science Centre of the US Geological Survey on behalf of the IAU.
• The IAU is globally recognized for assigning nomenclature to planetary surface features.