From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Crater on Mercury
Verdi
is an
impact crater
on the planet
Mercury
. It was named after Italian Romantic composer
Giuseppe Verdi
(1813?1901) in 1979, as recognized by the
International Astronomical Union
.
[1]
The crater's extensive ejecta blanket and secondary crater field are superposed on plains materials and older craters.
Verdi lies in the northern section of the
Shakespeare quadrangle
and is relatively large for a Mercurian crater, with a low rim and shallow floor.
[2]
The crater has a diameter of about 145 km (90 mi), although estimates of its size have varied.
[3]
Like its neighbour,
Brahms
, Verdi is "a complex crater with a central peak and
terraced walls
" and has several secondary craters.
[4]
Another key feature of the crater is its discontinuous inner rings.
Verdi was first imaged by
Mariner 10
, a robotic space probe launched in the early 1970s to survey Venus and Mercury.
[5]
Verdi and most of the planet's other craters were photographed in 2011 by the
MESSENGER
mission, a probe sent by
NASA
to orbit and photograph the planet.
[3]
Verdi is one of several
craters on Mercury
named after famous
composers
. Other examples in the Shakespeare quadrangle include
Brahms
(after
Johannes Brahms
),
Scarlatti
(after
Domenico Scarlatti
), and
Couperin
(after
Francois Couperin
).
[6]
A number of Mercurian craters are named after historic cultural figures from different fields, including literature, philosophy, and art, but others feature names from popular culture, including
Walt Disney
(
Disney
crater) and
Muddy Waters
(
Waters
crater).
[7]
-
Mariner 10
image with Verdi crater near center
-
Oblique view
-
References
[
edit
]
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Geography
| General
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Regions
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Quadrangles
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Mountains and
volcanoes
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Plains and
plateaus
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Canyons and
valleys
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Ridges and
rupes
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Basins and
fossae
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Craters
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Other
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Moons
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Astronomy
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Exploration
| Current
and past
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Proposed
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See also
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Related
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