Uruk Sulcus

Uruk Sulcus

View of a portion of the Uruk Sulcus region on Ganymede showing how the fine details of the grooved terrain that are the principal features in the brighter regions of this satellite relate to the global view of the moon.
Feature type	Sulcus
Coordinates	0°48′N160°18′W / 0.8°N 160.3°W / 0.8; -160.3 [1]
Diameter	2,200 km (1,400 mi)
Eponym	Uruk

Uruk Sulcus is a bright region of grooved terrain adjacent to Galileo Regio on Jupiter's moon Ganymede. It is thought to be younger than the darker material in Galileo Regio and similar regions elsewhere on the moon.

Observation and naming

Uruk Sulcus was observed in detail when the Galileo orbiter conducted two close flybys with Ganymede on 27 June and 6 September 1996. The encounter allowed stereo images to be acquired, though 30% of the Galileo images were lost on both passes due to onboard data processing and transmission limitations. ^{[2] : 304}

The feature is named after Uruk, a Mesopotamian city that in myth and literature was ruled by Gilgamesh. The name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1979. ^[1]

References

1. Uruc Sulcus - Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature
2. Giese, B.; Oberst, J.; Roatsch, T.; Neukum, G.; Head, J. W.; Pappalardo, R. T. (September 1998). "The Local Topography of Uruk Sulcus and Galileo Regio Obtained from Stereo Images". Icarus. 135 (1): 303–316. Bibcode:1998Icar..135..303G. doi:10.1006/icar.1998.5967.