Lermontov (crater)
|
Photo of Lermontov by MESSENGER | |
| Planet | Mercury |
|---|---|
| Region | Kuiper quadrangle |
| Coordinates | 15°12′N 48°06′W / 15.2°N 48.1°WCoordinates: 15°12′N 48°06′W / 15.2°N 48.1°W |
| Diameter | 152 km |
| Eponym | Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov |
Lermontov is an impact crater on the planet Mercury, 152 kilometers in diameter. It is located at 15.2°N, 48.1°W, southwest of the crater Proust and northeast of the crater Giotto. It has a circular rim and a flat crater floor. Lermontov is likely a mature crater, but it remains a bright feature because of low opaque material on its floor. The crater is named after Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov, a 19th-century Russian poet. The name was approved by the International Astronomical Union in 1976.[1][2][3]
The crater floor is somewhat brighter than the exterior surface and is smooth with several irregularly shaped depressions. Such features, similar to those found on the floor of Praxiteles, may be evidence of past explosive volcanic activity on the crater floor. Lermontov appears reddish in enhanced-color views, suggesting that it has a different composition from the surrounding surface.[4]
References
- ↑ "USGS Astro: Planetary Nomenclature: Feature Data Search Results". USGS Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature Feature Information. Retrieved October 28, 2007.
- ↑ NASA World Wind 1.4. NASA Ames Research Center, 2007.
- ↑ Blewett, D. T., B. R. Hawke, P. G. Lucey, and M. S. Robinson (2007), A Mariner 10 color study of Mercurian craters, J. Geophys. Res., 112, E02005, doi:10.1029/2006JE002713.
- ↑ http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?page=1&gallery_id=2&image_id=315
