Rachmaninoff (crater)

Rachmaninoff
	MESSENGER image
Feature type	Peak-ring impact basin
Location	Hokusai quadrangle, Mercury
Coordinates	27°36′N302°24′W / 27.6°N 302.4°W
Diameter	290 km (180 mi)
Eponym	Sergei Rachmaninoff

Last updated December 14, 2024

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.^[2] 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.^[3]

The central part of Rachmaninoff is occupied by a peak ring 130 km in diameter and somewhat elongated in the north–south direction. The area within it is covered by bright reddish smooth plains, which are different in color from the plains outside the peak ring. These plains are likely to be of volcanic origin because they show signs of flow. They also over-topped and covered the southern portion of the peak ring itself.^[3] The lowest recorded elevation on Mercury, 5380 meters below the global average, lies within Rachmaninoff Basin.^[4] Rachmaninoff is one of 110 peak ring basins on Mercury.^[5]

The smooth plains inside the peak ring were deformed by a set of concentric graben (troughs) much like those inside Raditladi. The troughs are located at half the distance to the peak ring from the center of the crater. Rachmaninoff is the fourth impact crater on Mercury (after Caloris, Rembrandt and Raditladi), where extensional tectonic features have been observed. The formation mechanism of the graben remains unknown.^[3]

The crater is named after Sergei Rachmaninoff, a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor (1873–1943).^[1]

A distinct bright area between the inner peak ring and the rim in the southeast portion of the crater is known as Suge Facula.

To the north of Rachmaninoff is Neidr Facula, and to the northeast is Nathair Facula. To the west is Asawa crater, and to the southwest are the Calypso Rupes.

Views

Rachmaninoff crater in approximate color
The interior of the central peak ring, showing detail of the ring of graben
Mosaic from MESSENGER's third flyby
Rachmaninoff Basin topography, showing that its center is one of the lowest places on the planet at approximately 5 km below the global average

Related Research Articles

The Hokusai quadrangle (H-5) is one of fifteen quadrangles on the planet Mercury. It runs from 360 to 270° longitude and 20 to 70° latitude. Named after the Hokusai crater, it was mapped in detail for the first time after MESSENGER entered orbit around Mercury in 2011. It had not been mapped prior to that point because it was one of the six quadrangles that was not illuminated when Mariner 10 made its flybys in 1974 and 1975. These six quadrangles continued to be known by their albedo feature names, with this one known as the Apollonia quadrangle.

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Vivaldi is a crater on Mercury. It was named by the IAU after Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi in 1976. It has a prominent and nearly continuous inner ring whose diameter measures about half that of the outer ring. It is one of 110 peak ring basins on Mercury. Unlike some of the lunar multiringed structures, no vestiges of additional rings are apparent around this crater. It is classified as c3 age.

Mozart is a crater on Mercury, named by the IAU in 1976 after Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Raphael is a crater on Mercury. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1976, and is named for the Italian painter Raphael. It is Tolstojan in age. The crater was first imaged by Mariner 10 in 1974.

Eminescu is a peak ring crater on Mercury 125 kilometers (78 mi) in diameter. Since there are very few later craters superposed on it, Eminescu appears to be a young crater formed around one billion years ago. It has a transitional morphology between larger more complex impact basins like Raditladi and smaller simpler central peak craters.

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Nabokov is a crater on Mercury. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) on April 24, 2012. Nabokov is named for the Russian and American author Vladimir Nabokov.

Faulkner is a crater on Mercury. It has a diameter of 168 kilometres. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) on April 24, 2012. Faulkner is named for the American author William Faulkner.

Wen Tianxiang is a crater on Mercury. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in June 2020, and it is named for Chinese writer and poet Wen Tianxiang.

References

1 2 3 4 "Rachmaninoff". USGS . Retrieved July 17, 2010.
↑ "Rachmaninoff in Concert with Recently Named Craters on Mercury". JHU/APL. Archived from the original on February 27, 2015. Retrieved July 17, 2010.
1 2 3 Prockter, Louise M.; Ernst, Carolyn M.; Denevi, Brett W.; et al. (2010). "Evidence for young volcanism on Mercury from MESSENGER'S third flyby". 41st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. 41: 1931. Bibcode:2010LPI....41.1931P.
↑ Becker, K. J., Robinson, M. S., Becker, T. L., Weller, L. A., Edmundson, K. L., Neumann, G. A., Perry, M. E., and Solomon, S. C. (2016). First global digital elevation model of Mercury. Lunar Planet Sci., 47, abstract 2959.
↑ 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.

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[usgs-1] 1 2 3 4 "Rachmaninoff". USGS . Retrieved July 17, 2010.

[2] "Rachmaninoff in Concert with Recently Named Craters on Mercury". JHU/APL. Archived from the original on February 27, 2015. Retrieved July 17, 2010.

[Prockter2010-3] 1 2 3 Prockter, Louise M.; Ernst, Carolyn M.; Denevi, Brett W.; et al. (2010). "Evidence for young volcanism on Mercury from MESSENGER'S third flyby". 41st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. 41: 1931. Bibcode:2010LPI....41.1931P.

[4] Becker, K. J., Robinson, M. S., Becker, T. L., Weller, L. A., Edmundson, K. L., Neumann, G. A., Perry, M. E., and Solomon, S. C. (2016). First global digital elevation model of Mercury. Lunar Planet Sci., 47, abstract 2959.

[5] 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.

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