Arecibo Catena

Arecibo Catena

Photograph by MESSENGER showing Arecibo Catena and nearby craters
Feature type	Catena
Coordinates	27°30′S28°24′W / 27.5°S 28.4°W / -27.5; -28.4
Eponym	Arecibo Observatory

Arecibo Catena (Arecibo Vallis until March 2013) ^[1] is a catena on Mercury. It is named after Arecibo Observatory, the former large radio telescope in Puerto Rico. ^[2] It was originally named Arecibo Vallis, but the name was changed in 2013 to align with planetary feature naming themes. ^{[3] [4]}

It is located at latitude 27.5 S, longitude 28.4 W, in the hilly and chaotic terrain antipodal to Caloris Basin.

Arecibo Catena is connected to Petrarch crater.

References

1. Arecibo Catena, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)
2. MESSENGER Observes Arecibo, October 10, 2008
3. Blue, Jennifer (26 March 2016). "Changes to Valles and Catenae on Mercury - USGS Astrogeology Hot Topics". astrogeology.usgs.gov. Archived from the original on 2013-06-05. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
4. "Planetary Names". planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2025-12-10.