Dawes (Martian crater)


Dawes Crater floor with fresh impact craters. Click on image to see dark ejecta from some craters that formed when the impact reached a dark layer.		Quadrangle map of Sinus Sabaeus labeled with major features. Colored rectangles represent image footprints of Mars Global Surveyor.

Dawes Crater is located in the Sinus Sabaeus quadrangle of Mars, at 9°12′S 38°00′E / 9.2°S 38°E / -9.2; 38^[1]Coordinates: 9°12′S 38°00′E / 9.2°S 38°E / -9.2; 38^[1]. It is about 191 km (119 mi) in diameter, and was named after William R. Dawes, a British astronomer (1799–1868)^[2] who was ahead of his time in believing that Mars only had a thin atmosphere. Dawes presumed that the atmosphere of Mars was thin because surface markings on the planet could easily be seen.^[3]

References [edit]

^ Blue, Jennifer. "Dawes". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
^ "Mars". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS.
^ Glasstone, S. (1968). The Book of Mars. Washington D.C.: NASA. .