Chekhov (crater)

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Chekhov
Mariner 10 image 0166592.png
Mariner 10 image with Chekhov at center
Feature typePeak-ring impact basin
Location Discovery quadrangle, Mercury
Coordinates 36°12′S61°30′W / 36.2°S 61.5°W / -36.2; -61.5
Diameter194 km
Eponym Anton Chekhov

Chekhov is a crater on Mercury. It has a diameter of 194 kilometers. [1] Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1976. Chekhov is named for the Russian author Anton Chekhov, who lived from 1860 to 1904. [2]

Chekhov is one of 110 peak ring basins on Mercury. [3] On the eastern side of the peak ring is a dark spot of low reflectance material (LRM), closely associated with hollows. [4] There is evidence of explosive volcanism on the floor of the crater, based on the presence of an irregular depression along the southern inner peak ring. [5]

The small rayed crater Popova is to the west of Chekhov. Unkei is to the north, Wergeland is to the east, and the similar-sized crater Schubert is to the southeast.

MESSENGER mosaic Chekhov crater EN0239668090M EN0239668042M.jpg
MESSENGER mosaic
MESSENGER mosaic with Schubert at lower right and Checkhov at upper left. Schubert and Chekhov craters EW0228589220G.png
MESSENGER mosaic with Schubert at lower right and Checkhov at upper left.

References

  1. Moore, Patrick (2000). The Data Book of Astronomy. Institute of Physics Publishing. ISBN   0-7503-0620-3.
  2. "Chekhov". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. NASA . Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  3. Chapman, C. R., Baker, D. M. H., Barnouin, O. S., Fassett, C. I., Marchie, S., Merline, W. J., Ostrach, L. R., Prockter, L. M., and Strom, R. G., 2018. Impact Cratering of Mercury. In Mercury: The View After MESSENGER edited by Sean C. Solomon, Larry R. Nittler, and Brian J. Anderson. Cambridge Planetary Science. Chapter 9.
  4. Zhiyong Xiao, Robert G. Strom, David T. Blewett, Paul K. Byrne, Sean C. Solomon, Scott L. Murchie, Ann L. Sprague, Deborah L. Domingue, Jörn Helbert, 2013. Dark spots on Mercury: A distinctive low-reflectance material and its relation to hollows. Journal of Geophysical Research Planets. doi.org/10.1002/jgre.20115
  5. David Pegg, David Rothery, M.R. Balme, Susan Conway, 2021. Explosive vent sites on Mercury: Commonplace multiple eruptions and their implications. Icarus 365:114510. doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114510