Impact Craters

An impact crater is a circular depression on a planet's surface caused by a smaller body colliding with it at hypervelocity. Impact craters, unlike volcanic craters, which are formed by explosion or internal collapse, have elevated rims and floors that are lower in elevation than the surrounding landscape. Small  bowl-shaped depressions to large complicated impact basins with multiple rings are all examples of impact craters.

03-06-2021 | Orbit: 18

Gale

Gale crater is a possible dry lake on Mars, located in the Aeolis quadrangle's northwest corner. It has a diameter of 154 kilometres and is estimated to be 3.5-3.8 billion years old. Walter Frederick Gale, an amateur astronomer from Sydney, Australia, who examined Mars in the late 1800s, was honored with the crater's name. Aeolis Mons is a 5.5-kilometer-high mountain near Gale's centre.

Hadley

Hadley is an impact crater on Mars, located in the Aeolis quadrangle and is part of Terra Cimmeria. It has a diameter of 119 kilometres and was named after George Hadley, a British meteorologist.


07-02-2021 | Orbit: 74

07-02-2021 | Orbit: 74

 Zunil

A 10.26 km-wide impact crater on Mars near the Cerberus Fossae in Elysium quadrangle. It is named after the Guatemalan town of Zunil. The crater is still in good condition considered it was formed by an impact that happened just a few millions years ago. It was most likely not created by a high-velocity impact, such as one caused by a comet. It is believed that Zunil is the source of the basaltic shergottite meteorites, and according to this theory, the crater was formed in basalt that was deposited between 165 and 177 million years ago.


 Greeley

Greeley is a massive impact crater on Mars, located in the northwest of the Noachis quadrangle. It has a diameter of 457 km and was named after Ronald Greeley, an American geologist.



08-16-2021 | Orbit: 94

07-04-2021 | Orbit: 75

Schiaparelli

An impact crater in the Sinus Sabaeus quadrangle, near the equator. It was named for Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli and has a diameter of 460 km. Many strata created by the wind, volcanoes, or deposition under water can be seen in a crater within Schiaparelli. Recent study reveals that the patterns in the layers were generated by ancient climate change, which was triggered by repeated variations in the planet's tilt.

Cassini
A crater named for Giovanni Cassini, an Italian astronomer. The crater is located in the Arabia quadrangle of Mars and measures roughly 415 km in diameter. Its floor is made up of several layers that may have been created by volcanoes, wind, or water.

06-23-2021 | Orbit: 70

06-23-2021 | Orbit: 70

Antoniadi

The  crater is located in the Syrtis Major quadrangle. It is 394 km long and named for Greek astronomer Eugène Michael Antoniadi. Some evidences quote that rivers and lakes were once present in this crater. They suggest that the minerals in this crater cemented the collected sediments, resulting in formation of inverted channels. These channels eroded through the surface and sediments filled the entire area.


Huygens

An impact crater named after Christiaan Huygens, a Dutch astronomer, mathematician, and physicist. After Utopia, Hellas, Argyre, and Isidis, it is the fifth biggest identifiable impact crater on Mars, and the largest with a nearly unbroken rim. The crater has a diameter of 467.25 km and is located in the Iapygia quadrangle. In a crater on Huygens' rim, calcium and iron carbonates were identified. The collision on the rim uncovered material that had been dug up by the Huygens impact. These minerals show that Mars used to have a thicker carbon dioxide atmosphere with more moisture. These types of carbonates only occur when there is a lot of water present.

06-23-2021 | Orbit: 70

07-13-2021 | Orbit: 79

Hellas Planitia

A plain in the southern hemisphere of Mars, located within the massive, nearly circular impact basin Hellas. Hellas is the Solar System's third or fourth largest known impact crater. The basin floor is about 7,152 m deep and it stretches for nearly 2,300 km east to west. The crater is thought to have formed when a protoplanet or huge asteroid collided with the surface during the Solar System's Late Heavy Bombardment phase occurred approximately 4.1 to 3.8 billion years ago.



Newton

A huge crater with a diameter of about 300 kilometres that lies in the Phaethontis quadrangle in the highly cratered highlands of Terra Sirenum. Newton was most likely formed by a collision that occurred more than 3 billion years ago. Within the crater's basin, smaller craters can be found, as well as gully formations that are thought to be suggestive of former liquid water flows. Many small channels can be found in this location, further strengthening the theory that liquid water was once present here. Researchers assumed that the mechanisms carving the gullies involved liquid water because of their form, characteristics, placements, and apparent association with areas presumed to be rich in water ice.



08-21-2021 | Orbit: 96

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