 Coniraya (center right, overlain by three smaller craters). Gaue is at lower right, cut-off by the edge of the image. | |
| Location | Ceres |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 39°52′N65°31′E / 39.86°N 65.51°E Coordinates: 39°52′N65°31′E / 39.86°N 65.51°E [1] |
| Diameter | 136.12 kilometres (84.58 mi) |
| Naming | Coniraya Viracocha, Incan lunar deity |
Coniraya is a large crater on the dwarf planet Ceres.
The crater is named after the Incan lunar and fertility deity, Coniraya Viracocha (Kon Iraya Wiraqocha), who came to earth at Huarochirí (Waruchiri), and created villages, terraced fields and irrigation canals.
According to a 2016 study, the impact which created Coniraya was caused by a large body travelling an unusually low speed. [2]
An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere.
Vesta is one of the largest objects in the asteroid belt, with a mean diameter of 525 kilometres (326 mi). It was discovered by the German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers on 29 March 1807 and is named after Vesta, the virgin goddess of home and hearth from Roman mythology.
Pallas is the second asteroid to have been discovered, after Ceres. It is believed to have a mineral composition similar to carbonaceous chondrite meteorites, like Ceres, though significantly less hydrated than Ceres. It is the third-largest asteroid in the Solar System by both volume and mass, and is a likely remnant protoplanet. It is 79% the mass of Vesta and 22% the mass of Ceres, constituting an estimated 7% of the mass of the asteroid belt. Its estimated volume is equivalent to a sphere 507 to 515 kilometers in diameter, 90–95% the volume of Vesta.
A facula, Latin for "little torch", is literally a "bright spot". The term has several common technical uses. It is used in planetary nomenclature for naming certain surface features of planets and moons, and is also a type of surface phenomenon on the Sun's photosphere. In addition, a bright region in the projected field of a light source is sometimes referred to as a facula, and photographers often use the term to describe bright, typically circular features in photographs that correspond to light sources or bright reflections in a defocused image.
A cryovolcano is a type of volcano that erupts volatiles such as water, ammonia or methane into an extremely cold environment that is at or below their freezing point. The process of formation is known as cryovolcanism. Collectively referred to as cryomagma, cryolava or ice-volcanic melt, these substances are usually liquids and can form plumes, but can also be in vapour form. After the eruption, cryomagma is expected to condense to a solid form when exposed to the very low surrounding temperature. Cryovolcanoes may potentially form on icy moons and other objects with abundant water past the Solar System's snow line. A number of features have been identified as possible cryovolcanoes on Pluto, Titan and Ceres, and a subset of domes on Europa may have cryovolcanic origins. In addition, although they are not known to form volcanoes, ice geysers have been observed on Enceladus and potentially Triton.
A crater chain is a line of craters along the surface of an astronomical body. The descriptor term for crater chains is catena, plural catenae, as specified by the International Astronomical Union's rules on planetary nomenclature.
Ceres is a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It was the first asteroid discovered, on 1 January 1801, by Giuseppe Piazzi at Palermo Astronomical Observatory in Sicily, and announced as a new planet. Ceres was later classified as an asteroid and then as a dwarf planet – the only one always inside Neptune's orbit.
A permanently shadowed crater is a depression on a body in the Solar System within which lies a point that is always in darkness.
Several bright surface features were discovered on the dwarf planet Ceres by the Dawn spacecraft in 2015.
Ahuna Mons is the largest mountain on the dwarf planet and asteroid Ceres. It protrudes above the cratered terrain, is not an impact feature, and is the only mountain of its kind on Ceres. Bright streaks run top to bottom on its slopes; these streaks are thought to be salt, similar to the better known Cererian bright spots, and likely resulted from cryovolcanic activity from Ceres's interior. It is named after the traditional post-harvest festival Ahuna of the Sümi Naga people of India. In July 2018, NASA released a comparison of physical features, including Ahuna Mons, found on Ceres with similar ones present on Earth.
Occator is an impact crater located on Ceres, the largest object in the main asteroid belt that lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, that contains "Spot 5", the brightest of the bright spots observed by the Dawn spacecraft. It was known as "Region A" in ground-based images taken by the W. M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea.
Kerwan is the largest confirmed crater and one of the largest geological features on Ceres. It was discovered on February 19, 2015 from Dawn images as it approached Ceres. The crater is distinctly shallow for its size, and lacks a central peak. A central peak might have been destroyed by a 15-kilometer-wide crater at the center of Kerwan. The crater is likely to be young relative to the rest of Ceres's surface, as Kerwan has largely obliterated the cratering in the southern part of Vendimia Planitia.
Haulani is an impact crater located on Ceres that contains "Spot 1", one of the bright spots observed by the Dawn spacecraft. The crater was named after Haulani, the Hawaiian goddess of plants. In July 2018, NASA released a comparison of physical features, including Haulani crater, found on Ceres with similar ones present on Earth.
Ezinu is a large crater on Ceres, located within the Hanami Planum. It was officially named in 2015 by the IAU after a Sumerian goddess of grain.
Dantu is a large crater on Ceres, located within the Vendimia Planitia. It is rimmed by a number of minor faculae, which together form Bright Spot 2.
The geology of Ceres consists of the characteristics of the surface, the crust and the interior of the dwarf planet Ceres. The surface of Ceres is comparable to the surfaces of Saturn's moons Rhea and Tethys, and Uranus's moons Umbriel and Oberon.
Achita is a large crater on Ceres.
Sintana is a large crater in the southern hemisphere of the dwarf planet Ceres, located at 44.21° S, 76.4 ° E. It has a diameter of 58 km. The crater is named after the deity of the Kogi people of northern Colombia who produced fertile black earth. It was officially named by the IAU on July 3, 2015.
Oxo is a small impact crater on the dwarf planet Ceres, located in Ceres' northern hemisphere. It is the second-brightest feature on Ceres. The crater was named after the Candomblé god of agriculture.
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