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List of craters on Mars

Topic: Astronomy

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Distribution of named craters in the Solar System as of 2017.

This is a list of craters on Mars. Impact craters on Mars larger than 1 km (0.62 mi) exist by the hundreds of thousands, but only about one thousand of them have names.[1] Names are assigned by the International Astronomical Union after petitioning by relevant scientists, and in general, only craters that have a significant research interest are given names. Martian craters are named after famous scientists and science fiction authors, or if less than 60 km (37 mi) in diameter, after towns on Earth. Craters cannot be named for living people, and names for small craters are rarely intended to commemorate a specific town.[2] Latitude and longitude are given as planetographic coordinates with west longitude.

Catalog of named craters

The catalog is divided into three partial lists:

Names are grouped into tables for each letter of the alphabet, containing the crater's name (linked if article exists), coordinates, diameter in kilometers, year of official name adoption (approval), the eponym ("named after") and a direct reference to the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.[1]

Statistics

As of 2017, Martian craters account for 21% of all 5,211 named craters in the Solar System. Apart from the Moon, no other body has as many named craters as Mars. 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. The total number of craters on Mars greater than 1 kilometre in diameter is approximately 385,000, with 21% of those (~85,000) being over 3 kilometers in diameter.[3] The number of craters on Mars over 25 metres in diameter is suggested to be approximately 90 million.[4]

Largest craters

Some of the largest craters on Mars remain unnamed. Diameters differ depending on source data. The largest confirmed impact basins on Mars are Utopia (buried, estimated diameter 3,300 km) Hellas (2,300 km), Argyre ( 1,800 km) and Isidis (1,500 km).

Crater[lower-alpha 1] Coordinates Diameter (km)[lower-alpha 2] Elliptical major axis (km) Elliptical minor axis (km) Rank by approx. area Approval date Named after Refs
Huygens [ ⚑ ] 13°58′S 55°35′E / 13.96°S 55.58°E / -13.96; 55.58 (Huygens) 467.25 484.89 450.54 1 1973 Christiaan Huygens WGPSN
Schiaparelli [ ⚑ ] 2°41′S 16°47′E / 2.69°S 16.79°E / -2.69; 16.79 (Schiaparelli) 458.52 (445.76) 462.51 430.4 2 1973 Giovanni Schiaparelli WGPSN
Unnamed [ ⚑ ] 38°06′N 167°09′W / 38.1°N 167.15°W / 38.1; -167.15 376.35 452.74 384.9 3 — — —
Greeley [ ⚑ ] 36°38′S 3°11′E / 36.63°S 3.19°E / -36.63; 3.19 (Greeley) 457.45 (427.15) 438.81 395.71 4 2015 Ronald Greeley WGPSN
Cassini [ ⚑ ] 22°35′N 32°07′E / 22.59°N 32.11°E / 22.59; 32.11 (Cassini) 408.23 411.45 402.42 5 1973 Giovanni Cassini WGPSN
Antoniadi [ ⚑ ] 21°35′N 60°50′E / 21.59°N 60.84°E / 21.59; 60.84 (Antoniadi) 400.95 417.04 389.68 6 1973 Eugène Michael Antoniadi WGPSN
Dollfus [ ⚑ ] 20°59′S 3°50′W / 20.99°S 3.83°W / -20.99; -3.83 (Dollfus) 363.08 (358.72) 367.94 346.98 7 2013 Audouin Dollfus WGPSN
Unnamed [ ⚑ ] 59°01′S 76°53′W / 59.01°S 76.89°W / -59.01; -76.89 341.1 391.76 325.82 8 — — —
Tikhonravov [ ⚑ ] 12°55′N 35°55′E / 12.92°N 35.91°E / 12.92; 35.91 (Tikhonravov) 343.7 356.28 331.85 9 1985 Mikhail Tikhonravov WGPSN
Unnamed [ ⚑ ] 23°23′N 53°14′E / 23.39°N 53.24°E / 23.39; 53.24 340.12 351.4 330.13 10 — — —
Unnamed [ ⚑ ] 0°59′S 28°52′E / 0.99°S 28.86°E / -0.99; 28.86 325.8 347 308.58 11 — — —
Newton [ ⚑ ] 40°31′S 158°04′W / 40.52°S 158.06°W / -40.52; -158.06 (Newton) 299.94 (312.44) 318.37 307.37 12 1973 Isaac Newton WGPSN
Unnamed [ ⚑ ] 59°32′S 83°53′W / 59.53°S 83.89°W / -59.53; -83.89 301.99 319.91 297.06 13 — — —
Unnamed [ ⚑ ] 24°28′S 32°07′W / 24.47°S 32.12°W / -24.47; -32.12 300.36 323.73 291.72 14 — — —
de Vaucouleurs [ ⚑ ] 13°40′S 171°05′E / 13.67°S 171.09°E / -13.67; 171.09 (de Vaucouleurs) 302.27 (311.68) 316.11 297.19 15 2000 Gérard de Vaucouleurs WGPSN
Copernicus [ ⚑ ] 48°53′S 168°49′W / 48.88°S 168.82°W / -48.88; -168.82 (Copernicus) 301.83 320.69 284.51 16 1973 Nicolaus Copernicus WGPSN
Unnamed [ ⚑ ] 52°33′S 109°34′W / 52.55°S 109.57°W / -52.55; -109.57 326.77 343.52 260.75 17 — — —
Herschel [ ⚑ ] 14°09′S 129°53′E / 14.15°S 129.89°E / -14.15; 129.89 (Herschel) 297.92 301.56 294.41 18 1973 John Herschel and William Herschel WGPSN
Schroeter [ ⚑ ] 1°53′S 55°59′E / 1.89°S 55.99°E / -1.89; 55.99 (Schroeter) 291.59 298.12 285.7 19 1973 Johann Hieronymus Schröter WGPSN
Kovalʼsky [ ⚑ ] 29°44′S 141°26′W / 29.73°S 141.43°W / -29.73; -141.43 (Kovalʼsky) 296.67 (285.14) 288.89 281.38 20 1985 Marian Albertovich Kowalski WGPSN

Notes

  1. ↑ Data in this table includes contents from:
    • Planetary Names: Search Results, International Astronomical Union Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) at Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature (access date June 2017).
      • only this data-set provides an approval date, eponym and WGSPN-link to an object webpage;
    • Mars Crater Database Search, Robbins, S.J., and B.M. Hynek (2012). A New Global Database of Mars Impact Craters ≥1 km: 1. Database Creation, Properties, and Parameters. Journal of Geophysical Research – Planets
      • Elliptical measurements (used to compute the approx. area), and the details on unnamed craters are only available in this data-set.
  2. ↑ The entries containing two diameter values are due to presumably newer data being available via Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The value consistent with the Robbins data is included in parentheses for completeness.

Example crater

An approximate true-color image, taken by Mars exploration rover Opportunity, shows the view of Victoria crater from Cape Verde. It was captured over a three-week period, from October 16 – November 6, 2006.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Nomenclature Search Results: Mars > Crater, Craters". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature – International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/SearchResults?target=MARS&featureType=Crater,%20craters. 
  2. ↑ "Categories for Naming Features on Planets and Satellites". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature – International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/Categories. 
  3. ↑ Lagain*†, A.; Bouley†, S.; Baratoux†, D.; Marmo†, C.; Costard†, F.; Delaa†, O.; Rossi†, A. Pio; Minin†, M. et al. (2021-08-02). "Mars Crater Database: A participative project for the classification of the morphological characteristics of large Martian craters" (in en). Large Meteorite Impacts and Planetary Evolution VI. pp. 629–644. doi:10.1130/2021.2550(29). ISBN 9780813725505. https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/books/book/2312/chapter/129414828/Mars-Crater-Database-A-participative-project-for. 
  4. ↑ Lagain, A.; Benedix, G. K.; Servis, K.; Baratoux, D.; Doucet, L. S.; Rajšic, A.; Devillepoix, H. a. R.; Bland, P. A. et al. (2021-11-03). "The Tharsis mantle source of depleted shergottites revealed by 90 million impact craters" (in en). Nature Communications 12 (1): 6352. doi:10.1038/s41467-021-26648-3. ISSN 2041-1723. PMID 34732704. Bibcode: 2021NatCo..12.6352L. 

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