Planet | Mercury |
---|---|
Coordinates | 44°05′S255°11′W / 44.09°S 255.19°W |
Quadrangle | Neruda |
Diameter | 113 km (70 mi) |
Eponym | Percy Grainger |
Grainger is a crater on Mercury. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 2012, after the Australian-born composer George Percy Aldridge Grainger. [1]
Grainger has a rather prominent central peak, which rises above much of the rim of the crater. [2] There is slumping evident around much of the outer rim.
There are irregular depressions with a halo of high-albedo material in the northeast quadrant of the crater, which may be volcanic in nature. [3]
The large Rembrandt basin is to the northwest of Grainger, and to the northeast is Beckett crater.
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.
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.
Beethoven is a crater at latitude 20°S, longitude 124°W on Mercury. It is 630 km in diameter and was named after Ludwig van Beethoven. It is the eleventh largest named impact crater in the Solar System and the third largest on Mercury.
Rembrandt is a large impact crater on Mercury. With a diameter of 716 km it is the second-largest impact basin on the planet, after Caloris, and is one of the larger craters in the Solar System. It was discovered by MESSENGER during its second flyby of Mercury on October 6, 2008. The crater is 3.9 billion years old, and was created during the period of Late Heavy Bombardment. The density and size distribution of impact craters along Rembrandt's rim indicate that it is one of the youngest impact basins on Mercury.
Moody is an impact crater on Mercury.
Navoi is a crater on Mercury. It contains uncommon reddish material that indicates a different rock composition from its surroundings. Navoi also appears to have an irregularly shaped depression in its center. Such depressions have been seen elsewhere on Mercury, including within Praxiteles crater, and may indicate past volcanic activity.
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.
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.
Beckett is a pit-floored crater on Mercury, which was discovered in January 2008 during the first flyby of the planet by the MESSENGER spacecraft. The crater was named in November 2008 by the IAU.
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.
To Ngoc Van is a pit-floored crater on Mercury, named after the Vietnamese artist Tô Ngọc Vân. It was discovered in January 2008 during the first flyby of the planet by MESSENGER spacecraft. Its floor displays an irregularly shaped collapse feature, which is called a central pit. The size of the pit is 21 × 10 km. Such a feature may have resulted from collapse of a magma chamber underlying the central part of the crater. The collapse feature is an analog of Earth's volcanic calderas.
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.
Ailey is a crater on Mercury. It has a diameter of 21 kilometers. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in on April 24, 2012. Ailey is named for the American dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey, who lived from 1931 to 1989.
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.
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.
Geddes is a crater on Mercury. It has a diameter of 84 kilometers. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 2010. Geddes is named for the Irish stained glass artist Wilhelmina Geddes, who lived from 1887 to 1955.
Renoir is a crater on the planet Mercury. Its name, after the French painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919), was adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1976.
Enheduanna is a crater on Mercury. It has a diameter of 105 kilometers. Its name was suggested by Gagan Toor from India in a naming contest which was eventually adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) on 2015. Enheduanna is named for the Sumerian poet Enheduanna. The craters Carolan, Kulthum, Karsh, and Rivera were also named as part of the contest.