Mars, named after New Zealand

9 named features. The International Astronomical Union records why each name was chosen, and those reasons are printed below exactly as they were approved.

FEATURES · 9

NAME	TYPE	SIZE	WHY THAT NAME
Waikato Vallis	valley	228 km	River in New Zealand.
Runanga	crater	41.4 km	Town in New Zealand.
Blenheim	crater	32 km	Town in New Zealand.
Tairua	crater	26 km	Town in New Zealand.
Timaru	crater	18.4 km	Town in New Zealand.
Lowbury	crater	17.2 km	Named for a town in New Zealand, probably Lowburn incorrectly recorded as Lowbury.
Kumara	crater	11.9 km	Town in New Zealand.
Cave	crater	8.2 km	Town in New Zealand.
Bluff	crater	6.8 km	Town in New Zealand.

Names and their origins come from the IAU Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature (USGS Astrogeology), retrieved 2026-08-14.
All named features ｜ KUON MARS map ｜ About the map ｜ The temperature on Mars ｜ How far away Mars is

DATA: IAU / USGS Astrogeology · NASA MGS MOLA · NASA Mars Odyssey THEMIS