This is a list of named craters on Mercury, the innermost planet of the Solar System (for other features, see list of geological features on Mercury). [2] Most Mercurian craters are named after famous writers, artists and composers. According to the rules by IAU's Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature, all new craters must be named after an artist that was famous for more than fifty years, and dead for more than three years, before the date they are named. [6] Craters larger than 250 km in diameter are referred to as "basins" (also see § Terminology). [7] [8]
As of 2021, there are 414 named Mercurian craters, [2] a small fraction of the total number of named Solar System craters, most of which are lunar, Martian and Venerian craters. [3] [4] [5] [a]
Other, non-planetary bodies with numerous named craters include Callisto (141), Ganymede (131), Rhea (128), Vesta (90), Ceres (90), Dione (73), Iapetus (58), Enceladus (53), Tethys (50) and Europa (41). For a full list, see List of craters in the Solar System .
Crater | Coordinates | Diameter (km) | Approval Year | Eponym | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Faulkner | 8°05′N76°58′E / 8.08°N 76.97°E | 168 | 2012 | William Faulkner, American author | WGPSN |
Fet | 4°43′S179°47′E / 4.72°S 179.78°E | 79 | 1985 | Afanasy Fet, Russian poet | WGPSN |
Firdousi | 3°28′N65°19′E / 3.47°N 65.32°E | 98 | 2010 | Hakim Ferdowsi, Persian poet | WGPSN |
Flaubert | 13°50′S72°42′W / 13.83°S 72.7°W | 95 | 1985 | Gustave Flaubert, French author | WGPSN |
Flaiano | 21°17′S76°44′W / 21.29°S 76.73°W | 43 | 2013 | Ennio Flaiano, Italian author | WGPSN |
Fonteyn | 32°49′N95°31′E / 32.82°N 95.51°E | 29 | 2012 | Margot Fonteyn, English ballet dancer | WGPSN |
Freire | 73°22′S214°28′W / 73.36°S 214.46°W | 51 | 2024 | María Freire, Uruguayan painter | WGPSN |
Fuller | 82°38′N42°39′W / 82.63°N 42.65°W | 26.97 | 2013 | Richard Buckminster Fuller, American engineer and architect | WGPSN |
Futabatei | 16°03′S83°31′W / 16.05°S 83.52°W | 57 | 1976 | Futabatei Shimei, Japanese author | WGPSN |
Crater | Coordinates | Diameter (km) | Approval Year | Eponym | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ibsen | 24°21′S35°53′W / 24.35°S 35.89°W | 159 | 1976 | Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian playwright | WGPSN |
Ictinus | 79°34′S174°14′W / 79.56°S 174.24°W | 58.03 | 1976 | Iktinos, Ancient Greek architect | WGPSN |
Imhotep | 17°58′S37°29′W / 17.97°S 37.48°W | 159 | 1976 | Imhotep, Ancient Egyptian architect | WGPSN |
Ives | 32°52′S111°59′W / 32.87°S 111.99°W | 18 | 1979 | Charles Ives, American composer | WGPSN |
Izquierdo | 1°40′S107°02′E / 1.66°S 107.04°E | 174 | 2009 | María Izquierdo, Mexican painter | WGPSN |
Crater | Coordinates | Diameter (km) | Approval Year | Eponym | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Janáček | 55°43′N154°51′W / 55.72°N 154.85°W | 47 | 1985 | Leoš Janáček, Czech composer | WGPSN |
Jiménez | 81°50′N152°19′W / 81.83°N 152.31°W | 27 | 2019 | Juan Ramón Jiménez, Spanish poet and author | WGPSN |
Jókai | 71°56′N138°27′W / 71.93°N 138.45°W | 93 | 1979 | Mór Jókai, Hungarian writer | WGPSN |
Jobim | 32°27′N66°53′W / 32.45°N 66.88°W | 167 | 2015 | Antônio Carlos Jobim, Brazilian composer | WGPSN |
Joplin | 38°34′S25°31′E / 38.56°S 25.51°E | 139 | 2012 | Scott Joplin, American composer | WGPSN |
Josetsu | 83°35′N134°56′W / 83.58°N 134.93°W | 30 | 2019 | Taikō Josetsu, Japanese ink painter | WGPSN |
Judah Ha-Levi | 10°47′N108°01′W / 10.79°N 108.01°W | 85 | 1976 | Yehuda Halevi, Spanish-Jewish writer | WGPSN |
Crater | Coordinates | Diameter (km) | Approval Year | Eponym | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ōkyo | 70°03′S74°40′W / 70.05°S 74.66°W | 66 | 1985 | Maruyama Ōkyo, Japanese painter | WGPSN |
Oskison | 60°22′N145°14′E / 60.36°N 145.24°E | 122 | 2008 | John Milton Oskison, Cherokee author | WGPSN |
Ovid | 69°46′S20°14′W / 69.77°S 20.23°W | 41 | 1976 | Ovid, Roman poet | WGPSN |
Crater | Coordinates | Diameter (km) | Approval Year | Eponym | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Qi Baishi | 4°19′S164°22′E / 4.31°S 164.37°E | 15 | 2008 | Qi Baishi, Chinese painter | WGPSN |
Qiu Ying | 82°40′N85°42′W / 82.67°N 85.7°W | 20 | 2012 | Qiu Ying, Chinese painter | WGPSN |
Crater | Coordinates | Diameter (km) | Approval Year | Eponym | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unkei | 31°47′S62°36′W / 31.79°S 62.6°W | 121 | 1976 | Unkei, Japanese sculptor | WGPSN |
Ustad Isa | 31°55′S166°07′W / 31.91°S 166.11°W | 138 | 1979 | Ustad Isa, architect | WGPSN |
Crater | Coordinates | Diameter (km) | Approval Year | Eponym | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wagner | 68°15′S114°47′W / 68.25°S 114.78°W | 134 | 1976 | Richard Wagner, German composer | WGPSN |
Wang Meng | 8°32′N104°07′W / 8.53°N 104.12°W | 165 | 1976 | Wang Meng, Chinese artist | WGPSN |
Warhol | 2°33′S6°16′W / 2.55°S 6.27°W | 91 | 2012 | Andy Warhol, American artist | WGPSN |
Waters | 8°58′S105°27′W / 8.96°S 105.45°W | 15 | 2012 | Muddy Waters, American musician | WGPSN |
Wen Tianxiang | 45°20′S191°36′W / 45.34°S 191.6°W | 166.42 | 2020 | Wen Tianxiang, Chinese poet | WGPSN |
Wergeland | 37°56′S56°22′W / 37.93°S 56.36°W | 42 | 1976 | Henrik Wergeland, Norwegian writer | WGPSN |
Whitman | 41°24′N111°38′W / 41.4°N 111.64°W | 64 | 1985 | Walt Whitman, American poet | WGPSN |
Wren | 24°50′N35°57′W / 24.84°N 35.95°W | 204 | 1979 | Christopher Wren, English architect | WGPSN |
Wu Shujuan | 70°48′S346°44′W / 70.8°S 346.73°W | 109 | 2024 | Wu Shujuan, Chinese painter | WGPSN |
Crater | Coordinates | Diameter (km) | Approval Year | Eponym | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Xiao Zhao | 10°35′N123°50′E / 10.58°N 123.84°E | 24 | 2008 | Xiao Zhao, Chinese artist | WGPSN |
Crater | Coordinates | Diameter (km) | Approval Year | Eponym | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Yamada | 82°32′N136°10′E / 82.54°N 136.16°E | 17.1 | 2015 | Kosaku Yamada, Japanese composer and conductor | WGPSN |
Yeats | 9°26′N35°02′W / 9.44°N 35.03°W | 92 | 1976 | William Butler Yeats, Irish poet | WGPSN |
Yoshikawa | 81°13′N106°02′E / 81.21°N 106.03°E | 30 | 2012 | Eiji Yoshikawa, Japanese novelist | WGPSN |
Yun Sŏn-Do | 73°29′S110°05′W / 73.49°S 110.08°W | 76 | 1976 | Yun Seondo, Korean poet | WGPSN |
Crater | Coordinates | Diameter (km) | Approval Year | Eponym | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Zeami | 2°58′S147°25′W / 2.96°S 147.41°W | 129 | 1976 | Zeami Motokiyo, Japanese playwright | WGPSN |
Zola | 49°45′N178°15′W / 49.75°N 178.25°W | 70 | 1979 | Émile Zola, French novelist | WGPSN |
As on the Moon and Mars, sequences of craters and basins of differing relative ages provide the best means of establishing stratigraphic order on Mercury. [12] [13] [14] Overlap relations among many large mercurian craters and basins are clearer than those on the Moon. Therefore, as this map shows, we can build up many local stratigraphic columns involving both crater or basin materials and nearby plains materials.
Over all of Mercury, the crispness of crater rims and the morphology of their walls, central peaks, ejecta deposits, and secondary-crater fields have undergone systematic changes with time. The youngest craters or basins in a local stratigraphic sequence have the sharpest, crispest appearance. The oldest craters consist only of shallow depressions with slightly raised, rounded rims, some incomplete. On this basis, five age categories of craters and basins have been mapped; the characteristics of each are listed in the explanation. In addition, secondary crater fields are preserved around proportionally far more craters and basins on Mercury than on the Moon or Mars, and are particularly useful in determining overlap relations and degree of modification.
Because only limited photographic evidence was available from Mariner 10 's three flybys of the planet, these divisions are often tentative. The five crater groups, from youngest to oldest, are:
Von Kármán is a large lunar impact crater that is located in the southern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. The crater is about 186 km (116 mi) in diameter and lies within an immense impact crater known as the South Pole–Aitken basin of roughly 2,500 km (1,600 mi) in diameter and 13 km (8.1 mi) deep. Von Kármán is the site of the first soft-landing on the lunar far side by the Chinese Chang'e 4 spacecraft on 3 January 2019.
Fechner is a lunar impact crater that lies on the far side of the Moon's southern hemisphere, attached to the western rim of the large walled plain Planck. The eastern rim of Fechner intersects the Vallis Planck, a long, wide cleft in the surface that follows a course to the north-northwest. This valley intrudes into the southeastern rim of the crater, then continues northwards from the periphery of the northeast rim.
Patsaev is a lunar impact crater that lies on the far side of the Moon, to the northeast of the prominent crater Tsiolkovskiy. To the northwest is the smaller crater Lander.
Cleopatra is an impact crater on Venus, in Maxwell Montes. Cleopatra is a double-ring impact basin about 100 kilometers (62 mi) in diameter and 2.5 kilometers (1.6 mi) deep. A steep-walled, winding channel a few kilometers wide breaks through the rough terrain surrounding the crater rim. A large amount of lava originating in Cleopatra flowed through this channel and filled valleys in Fortuna Tessera. Cleopatra is superimposed on the structures of Maxwell Montes and appears to be undeformed, indicating that Cleopatra is relatively young. The crater is named after Egyptian queen Cleopatra VII.
Suisei Planitia is a large area of smooth plains on Mercury, approximately 570 km wide. Ghost craters are unusual forms that occur in the Suisei Planitia. They are buried and rounded in profile, with only their rim crests rising above the surrounding smooth plains. It has been suggested that material forming Suisei Planitia is ejecta from the impact that formed Caloris Planitia. The name for this Planitia was approved in 1976 by the IAU.
The Borealis quadrangle is a quadrangle on Mercury surrounding the north pole down to 65° latitude. It was mapped in its entirety by the MESSENGER spacecraft, which orbited the planet from 2008 to 2015, excluding areas of permanent shadow near the north pole. Only approximately 25% of the quadrangle was imaged by the Mariner 10 spacecraft during its flybys in 1974 and 1975. The quadrangle is now called H-1.
Goethe Basin is an impact basin at 81.4° N, 54.3° W on Mercury approximately 317 kilometers in diameter. It is named after German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
The Tolstoj quadrangle in the equatorial region of Mercury runs from 144 to 216° longitude and -25 to 25° latitude. It was provisionally called "Tir", but renamed after Leo Tolstoy by the International Astronomical Union in 1976. Also called Phaethontias.
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.
The Shakespeare quadrangle is a region of Mercury running from 90 to 180° longitude and 20 to 70° latitude. It is also called Caduceata.
The Kuiper quadrangle, located in a heavily cratered region of Mercury, includes the young, 55-km-diameter crater Kuiper, which has the highest albedo recorded on the planet, and the small crater Hun Kal, which is the principal reference point for Mercurian longitude. Impact craters and basins, their numerous secondary craters, and heavily to lightly cratered plains are the characteristic landforms of the region. At least six multiringed basins ranging from 150 km to 440 km in diameter are present. Inasmuch as multiringed basins occur widely on that part of Mercury photographed by Mariner 10, as well as on the Moon and Mars, they offer a potentially valuable basis for comparison between these planetary bodies.
The Bach quadrangle encompasses the south polar part of Mercury poleward of latitude 65° S. It is named after the prominent crater Bach within the quadrangle, which is in turn named after Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach. The quadrangle is now called H-15.
The Beethoven quadrangle is located in the equatorial region of Mercury, in the center of the area imaged by Mariner 10. Most pictures of the quadrangle were obtained at high sun angles as the Mariner 10 spacecraft receded from the planet. Geologic map units are described and classified on the basis of morphology, texture, and albedo, and they are assigned relative ages based on stratigraphic relations and on visual comparisons of the density of superposed craters. Crater ages are established by relative freshness of appearance, as indicated by topographic sharpness of their rim crests and degree of preservation of interior and exterior features such as crater floors, walls, and ejecta aprons. Generally, topography appears highly subdued because of the sun angle, and boundaries between map units are not clearly defined.
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.
The Michelangelo quadrangle is in the southern hemisphere of the planet Mercury, where the imaged part is heavily cratered terrain that has been strongly influenced by the presence of multiring basins. At least four such basins, now nearly obliterated, have largely controlled the distribution of plains materials and structural trends in the map area. Many craters, interpreted to be of impact origin, display a spectrum of modification styles and degradation states. The interaction between basins, craters, and plains in this quadrangle provides important clues to geologic processes that have formed the morphology of the mercurian surface.
Verdi is an impact crater on the planet Mercury. It was named after Italian Romantic composer Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901) in 1979, as recognized by the International Astronomical Union. The crater's extensive ejecta blanket and secondary crater field are superposed on plains materials and older craters.