To Ngoc Van (crater)
_enh.jpg) Photo of To Ngoc Van crater (above Bruegel) by MESSENGER | |
| Planet | Mercury |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 52°18′N 110°42′W / 52.3°N 110.7°W |
| Quadrangle | Shakespeare |
| Diameter | 63 km[1] |
| Eponym | To Ngoc Van[2] |
To Ngoc Van is a pit-floored crater on Mercury, named after the Vietnamese artist Tô Ngọc Vân.[2] It was discovered in January 2008 during the first flyby of the planet by MESSENGER spacecraft.[1] Its floor displays an irregularly shaped collapse feature, which is called a central pit. The size of the pit is 21 × 10 km.[1] Such a feature may have resulted from collapse of a magma chamber underlying the central part of the crater. The collapse feature is an analog of Earth's volcanic calderas.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d Gillis-Davis, Jeffrey J.; Blewett, David T.; Gaskell, Robert W.; Denevi, Brett W.; Robinson, Mark S.; Strom, Robert G.; Solomon, Sean C.; Sprague, Ann L. (2009). "Pit-floor craters on Mercury: Evidence of near-surface igneous activity". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 285 (3–4): 243–250. Bibcode:2009E&PSL.285..243G. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2009.05.023. See unnamed crater 1.
- ^ a b "Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature: To_Ngoc_Van". USGS. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
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