Kuiper (Mercurian crater)

Kuiper
Kuiper photographed by MESSENGER
Planet Mercury
Coordinates 11°21′S 31°14′W / 11.35°S 31.23°W / -11.35; -31.23Coordinates: 11°21′S 31°14′W / 11.35°S 31.23°W / -11.35; -31.23
Diameter 60 km
Eponym Gerard Kuiper

Kuiper is a moderate-size crater with a central peak cluster located at 11°21′S 31°14′W / 11.35°S 31.23°W / -11.35; -31.23 on Mercury. It is 60 kilometers in diameter and was named after Gerard Kuiper in 1976.[1] It is one of only 2 Mercurian craters which are named not after artists,[2] and one of very few cases when the same name is used for 3 craters (there are also Kuiper craters on Mars and on the Moon). Gerard Kuiper, being a leader of American planetary science, died shortly before the first images of Mercurian surface were made.[2]

Kuiper overlies the northern rim of the larger crater Murasaki. Other crater around Kuiper is Byron almost to the northwest.

Kuiper crater has the highest recorded albedo of any region on the planet's surface and has a prominent ray system, suggesting that it is one of the youngest craters.[3]

The Kuiperian, the fifth and last epoch of the planet's geological history is named after the crater, it lasted from 2.2 to 1.25 billion years ago.[4][3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Kuiper". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
  2. 1 2 Morrison D. (1976). "IAU nomenclature for topographic features on Mercury". Icarus. 28: 605–606. Bibcode:1976Icar...28..605M. doi:10.1016/0019-1035(76)90134-2.
  3. 1 2 De Hon, R.A.; D.H. Scott & J.R. Underwood, Jr. (1981). "Geologic Map of the Kuiper (H-6) Quadrangle of Mercury". (Description)
  4. ↑ Gradstein, F M; Ogg, J G; Schmitz, Mark; Ogg, Gabi (22 July 2012). The Geologic Time Scale 2012 2-Volume Set. Elsevier. p. 292. ISBN 978-0-444-59425-9. Retrieved 2 October 2012.


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