Dowland (crater)

Dowland
Planet Mercury
Coordinates 53°30′S 179°30′W / 53.5°S 179.5°W / -53.5; -179.5Coordinates: 53°30′S 179°30′W / 53.5°S 179.5°W / -53.5; -179.5
Diameter 158 km
Eponym John Dowland

Dowland is a crater on Mercury. It has a diameter of 158 kilometers.[1] The eastern part is in the Michelangelo quadrangle and the western part is in the Neruda quadrangle. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1979. Dowland is named for the English composer John Dowland, who lived from 1562 to 1626.[2]

Dowland is located south of the much larger crater Dostoevskij, east is the scarp (or escarpment) Hero Rupes.

The crater was first explored and imaged during the Mariner 10 expedition. West of the crater rim was the area that the surface was known only by radio telescopes (e.g. Arecibo) until the arrival of the MESSENGER spacecraft during the late 2000s.

References

  1. ↑ Moore, Patrick (2000). The Data Book of Astronomy. Institute of Physics Publishing. ISBN 0-7503-0620-3.
  2. ↑ "Dowland". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. NASA. Retrieved 2 July 2012.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.