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Laxness (crater)

Coordinates: 83°16′N 50°02′W / 83.27°N 50.04°W / 83.27; -50.04
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Laxness
MESSENGER image of Laxness crater (bottom left) and Fuller crater (top right)
PlanetMercury
Coordinates83°16′N 50°02′W / 83.27°N 50.04°W / 83.27; -50.04
QuadrangleBorealis
Diameter25.89 km
EponymHalldór 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

  1. ^ Laxness, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)
  2. ^ 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.