![]() An image of Amaral and surrounding regions; Amaral is labelled in the bottom inset | |
Feature type | Central-peak impact crater |
---|---|
Location | Neruda quadrangle, Mercury |
Coordinates | 26°24′S242°18′W / 26.4°S 242.3°W |
Diameter | 105 km (65 mi) |
Eponym | Tarsila do Amaral |
Amaral is a crater on the planet Mercury. With its smooth floor, surrounding ejecta, and small secondary craters, it appears noticeably younger than the heavily cratered surface around it. Along with a smooth crater floor, Amaral also has a central peak. Bright material on this peak is of particular interest as it appears to have an unusual color. In color-enhanced images, the central peak of Amaral appears as a bright blue color in striking contrast to the otherwise orange tones of surface material nearby. The different color of the central peak likely indicates rocks with different chemical composition from those on the neighboring surface. [1]
Amaral is the second-largest crater of the Kuiperian system on Mercury, at 105 km diameter, after Bartók at 118 km. It is followed by Tyagaraja crater. [2]
A confirmed dark spot is present in southeastern Amaral. [3]
The crater Heaney is to the southeast of Amaral.
Kuiper is a moderate-size crater with a central peak cluster located at 11.35°S 31.23°W on Mercury. It is 62 kilometers in diameter and was named after Dutch-American astronomer Gerard Kuiper in 1976. It is one of only 2 Mercurian craters which are named not after artists, and one of very few cases when the same name is used for 3 craters. Gerard Kuiper, being a leader of American planetary science, died shortly before the first images of Mercurian surface were made.
Tolstoj is a large, ancient impact crater on Mercury. It was named after Leo Tolstoy by the IAU in 1976. The albedo feature Solitudo Maiae appears to be associated with this crater.
Mozart is a crater on Mercury, named by the IAU in 1976 after Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Eminescu is a peak ring crater on Mercury 125 kilometers (78 mi) in diameter. Since there are very few later craters superposed on it, Eminescu appears to be a young crater formed around one billion years ago. It has a transitional morphology between larger more complex impact basins like Raditladi and smaller simpler central peak craters.
Xiao Zhao crater is small in comparison with many other craters on Mercury. However, Xiao Zhao's long bright rays make it a readily visible feature. The fresh, bright rays, which were created by material ejected outward during the impact event that formed the crater, indicate that Xiao Zhao is a relatively young crater on Mercury's surface.
Atget crater is distinctive on the planet Mercury's surface due to its dark color. Atget crater is located within Caloris basin, near Apollodorus crater and Pantheon Fossae. The dark color of the floor of Atget is in contrast to other craters within Caloris basin that exhibit bright materials on their floors, such as the craters Kertész and Sander. Other craters on Mercury, such as Bashō and Neruda, have halos of dark material but the dark material does not cover the crater floors.
Sander is a crater on Mercury within Caloris Basin. It has dark walls and bright patches on its floor. Unlike the rays of Bashō crater, the bright areas are not believed to be immature, but they are inherently bright. It is named after the German photographer August Sander (1876–1964).
Moody is an impact crater on Mercury.
Raditladi is a large impact crater on Mercury with a diameter of 263 km. Inside its peak ring there is a system of concentric extensional troughs (graben), which are rare surface features on Mercury. The floor of Raditladi is partially covered by relatively light smooth plains, which are thought to be a product of the effusive volcanism. The troughs may also have resulted from volcanic processes under the floor of Raditladi. The basin is relatively young, probably younger than one billion years, with only a few small impact craters on its floor and with well-preserved basin walls and peak-ring structure. It is one of 110 peak ring basins on Mercury.
Titian is an impact crater on the planet Mercury. It was named by the IAU in 1976.
Berkel is a crater on the planet Mercury. Its name was approved by the IAU on July 9, 2009. It was named after the modernist painter Sabri Berkel.
Scarlatti is a pit-floored crater on Mercury, which was discovered in 1974 by the Mariner 10 spacecraft. It has a prominent peak ring, and it is one of 110 peak ring basins on Mercury. The crater floor is covered by the smooth plains material. The crater displays an arcuate collapse feature along the northeastern peak ring. The size of the pit, which was first noticed in MESSENGER images obtained in January 2008, is 38 × 12 km. Such a feature may have resulted from collapse of a magma chamber underlying the central peak ring complex of the crater. The collapse feature is an analog of Earth's volcanic calderas. Scarlatti is thought to have the same age as the Caloris basin.
Rachmaninoff is an impact crater on Mercury. This basin, first imaged in its entirety during MESSENGER's third Mercury flyby, was quickly identified as a feature of high scientific interest, because of its fresh appearance, its distinctively colored interior plains, and the extensional troughs on its floor. The morphology of Rachmaninoff is similar to that of Raditladi, which is one of the youngest impact basins on Mercury. The age of Raditladi is estimated at one billion years. Rachmaninoff appears to be only slightly older.
Derain is a crater on Mercury named after André Derain, a French artist, painter, sculptor and co-founder of Fauvism with Henri Matisse. It has uncommonly dark material within and surrounding the crater. The material is darker than the neighboring terrain such that this crater is easily identified even in a distant global image of Mercury. The dark halo may be material with a mineralogical composition different from the majority of Mercury's visible surface. Craters with similar dark material on or near their rims were seen on the floor of the Caloris basin during MESSENGER’s first flyby.
Bartók is a crater on Mercury. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1979. Bartók is named for the Hungarian composer Béla Bartók, who lived from 1881 to 1945.
Holst is a crater on Mercury. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) on April 24, 2012.
Tyagaraja is a crater on Mercury. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1976. Tyagaraja is named for the Indian composer Tyagaraja.
Alver is a crater on Mercury. It has a diameter of 151.49 kilometers. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) on March 15, 2013. Alver is named for the Estonian poet Betti Alver.
Rustaveli is a crater on Mercury. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 2012, after the Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli.
Hollows are a landform on the planet Mercury, discovered during the MESSENGER mission that orbited the planet from 2011 to 2015.