Haystack Catena

Haystack Catena

Oblique MESSENGER NAC mosaic
Feature type	Catena
Coordinates	4°25′N46°29′W / 4.42°N 46.48°W / 4.42; -46.48
Eponym	Haystack Observatory

Haystack Catena is a catena on Mercury. It superficially resembles a graben but is a chain of overlapping secondary craters. ^[1] It is named after Haystack Observatory, and was originally named Haystack Vallis when it was imaged by Mariner 10 in 1974, but the name was changed in 2013 to align with planetary feature naming themes. ^{[2] [3]} It is approximately 274 km long. ^[4] It is located near the center of the Kuiper quadrangle, and it is radial to a large, unnamed crater that is Tolstojan in age. ^[5]

To the southwest of the catena is a large (50 km diameter), unnamed crater of Kuiperian age. ^[6]

References

1. H-6 text_all.word Archived November 2, 2004, at the Wayback Machine
2. 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.
3. "Planetary Names". planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
4. "Haystack Catena". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. IAU/NASA/USGS . Retrieved 17 June 2024.
5. Denevi, B. W., Ernst, C. M., Prockter, L. M., and Robinson, M. S., 2018. The Geologic History of Mercury. In Mercury: The View After MESSENGER edited by Sean C. Solomon, Larry R. Nittler, and Brian J. Anderson. Cambridge Planetary Science. Chapter 6, Table 6.3.
6. Denevi, B. W., Ernst, C. M., Prockter, L. M., and Robinson, M. S., 2018. The Geologic History of Mercury. In Mercury: The View After MESSENGER edited by Sean C. Solomon, Larry R. Nittler, and Brian J. Anderson. Cambridge Planetary Science. Chapter 6, Table 6.4.