Laxness (crater)
Appearance
Planet | Mercury |
---|---|
Coordinates | 83°16′N 50°02′W / 83.27°N 50.04°W |
Quadrangle | Borealis |
Diameter | 25.89 km |
Eponym | Halldór Laxness |
Laxness is a crater on Mercury, located near the north pole. It was named by the IAU in 2013, after Icelandic writer Halldór Laxness.[1]
S band radar data from the Arecibo Observatory collected between 1999 and 2005 indicates a radar-bright area along the southern interior of Laxness, which is probably indicative of a water ice deposit, and lies within the permanently shadowed part of the crater.[2]
Fuller crater is southeast of Laxness. Both lie in the northern part of the Goethe Basin.
References
- ^ Laxness, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)
- ^ Chabot, N. L., D. J. Lawrence, G. A. Neumann, W. C. Feldman, and D. A. Paige, 2018. Mercury's Polar Deposits. In Mercury: The View After MESSENGER edited by Sean C. Solomon, Larry R. Nittler, and Brian J. Anderson. Cambridge Planetary Science. Chapter 13, Figure 13.2.