 MESSENGER NAC | |
| Planet | Mercury |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 74°36′S122°00′W / 74.6°S 122.0°W |
| Quadrangle | Bach |
| Diameter | 181 km |
| Eponym | Miguel de Cervantes |
Cervantes is a crater on Mercury. It has a diameter of 181 kilometers. [1] Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1976. Cervantes is named for the Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, who lived from 1547 to 1616. [2]
Cervantes is one of 110 peak ring basins on Mercury. [3]
Degas is a rayed crater on Mercury at latitude 37.5 N, longitude 127 W. Its diameter is 54 kilometres (34 mi). It was named after the French impressionist painter Edgar Degas in 1979. The rays consist of light colored material blasted out during the crater's formation. Craters older than Degas are covered by the ray material, while younger craters are seen superimposed on the rays. Degas forms a crater pair with Brontë to the north. Both lie near the center of Sobkou Planitia.
Bach is a double-ringed impact basin within the Bach quadrangle of Mercury. It was named by the IAU in 1976.
Michelangelo is a 230 km diameter impact basin in the Michelangelo quadrangle of Mercury, which is named after this crater. The crater itself was named by the IAU in 1979 after the Italian painter, sculptor and architect Michelangelo.
Vivaldi is a crater on Mercury. It was named by the IAU after Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi in 1976. It has a prominent and nearly continuous inner ring whose diameter measures about half that of the outer ring. It is one of 110 peak ring basins on Mercury. Unlike some of the lunar multiringed structures, no vestiges of additional rings are apparent around this crater. It is classified as c3 age.
Mozart is a crater on Mercury, named by the IAU in 1976 after Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Homer is a crater on Mercury. It is one of 110 peak ring basins on Mercury.
Bashō is a crater on Mercury named after Matsuo Bashō, a 17th-century Japanese writer. Bashō crater is only 74.62 kilometers (46.37 mi) in diameter, but is a prominent feature on Mercury's surface, due to its bright rays. Photographs from NASA's Mariner 10 and MESSENGER spacecraft show a curious halo of dark material around the crater.
Praxiteles is a crater on Mercury. It is one of 110 peak ring basins on Mercury.
Moody is an impact crater on Mercury.
Izquierdo is a crater on Mercury. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 2009, for the Mexican painter María Izquierdo. The floor of Izquierdo is smooth, the result of having been partially filled with volcanic lava. Circular outlines of the rims of “ghost craters” – smaller, older craters that have been largely buried by the lavas that infilled the basin – are visible in a few places on Izquierdo's floor. The remnants of a buried inner ring are also barely discernible in spots, and it is one of 110 peak ring basins on Mercury. There have been more recent impacts into the floor of Izquierdo, resulting in some small, sharply defined craters.
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.
Hokusai is a rayed impact crater on Mercury, which was discovered in 1991 by ground-based radar observations conducted at Goldstone Observatory. The crater was initially known as feature B. Its appearance was so dissimilar to other impact craters that it was once thought to be a shield volcano. However improved radar images by the Arecibo Observatory obtained later in 2000–2005 clearly showed that feature B is an impact crater with an extensive ray system. The bright appearance of rays in the radio images indicates that the crater is geologically young; fresh impact ejecta has a rough surface, which leads to strong scattering of radio waves.
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.
Ahmad Baba is a crater on Mercury. It has a diameter of 127 kilometers. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1979.
Al-Hamadhani is a crater on Mercury. It has a diameter of 186 kilometers. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1979. Al-Hamadhani is named for the Iranian writer Badi' al-Zaman al-Hamadani, who died in 1007 C.E.
Balzac is a crater on Mercury. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1976. Balzac is named for the French writer Honoré de Balzac, who lived from 1799 to 1850.
Bernini is a crater on Mercury. It has a diameter of 146 kilometers. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1976. Bernini is named for the Italian architect and sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who lived from 1598 to 1680.
Dürer is a crater on Mercury. It has a diameter of 195 kilometers. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1976. Durer is named for the German artist Albrecht Dürer, who lived from 1471 to 1528.
Holst is a crater on Mercury. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) on April 24, 2012.
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.
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