Pickering (Martian crater)

Not to be confused with Pickering (lunar crater).

Viking Orbiter image with Pickering at right

Pickering Crater is a crater in the Phaethontis quadrangle on Mars, located at 33.1° south latitude and 132.5° west longitude. It is 115 kilometres (71 mi) in diameter.

Two nearby prominent craters are unnamed, the triple crater pair lies to the south-southwest with the larger two being nearly attached and another further southeast. West-northwest is the larger Koval'sky. Located south of Pickering are three recently named tiny craters including Selekac in the south-southaest and Dunkassa to the south-southwest, inside an unnamed mid-sized crater near Dunkassa is also Langtang

Lava flow fronts are visible within the crater, and the source of the lava is Arsia Mons. The lava has flowed around the central peak of the crater. As lava once flowed to the northeast, there are not that many craters towards the northeast of Pickering which are in Daedalia Planum that the eastern rim borders, the only small named crater nearby is Zumba located in the northeast inside the Phoenicis quadrangle.

The crater was named after several people: Edward Charles Pickering, American astronomer (1846–1919); his brother William Henry Pickering, American astronomer (1858–1938); and Sir William Hayward Pickering (unrelated), New Zealand-American engineer (1910–2004).

• 
  Western edge of Pickering Crater, as seen by CTX camera (on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter).
• 
  Lava flows on floor of Pickering Crater, as seen by CTX camera (on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter). Lava flowed in crater, and then stopped as it reached higher ground. Note: this is an enlargement of previous image.
• 
  Middle portion of Pickering Crater, as seen by CTX camera (on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter). Arrows indicate edges of lava flows.

See also

• Impact crater
• Impact event
• List of craters on Mars
• Ore resources on Mars
• Planetary nomenclature