List of craters on Mars

This is a list of craters on Mars. Impact craters on Mars larger than 1 km exist by the hundreds of thousands, but only about one thousand of them have names.[1] Names are assigned by the International Astronomical Union after petitioning by relevant scientists, and in general, only craters that have a significant research interest are given names. Martian craters are named after famous scientists and science fiction authors, or if less than 60 km in diameter, after towns on Earth. Craters cannot be named for living people, and names for small craters are rarely intended to commemorate a specific town.[2] Latitude and longitude are given as planetographic coordinates with west longitude.

List of craters on the MoonMartian: 1,092 craters (21.0%)List of craters on VenusList of craters on MercuryOthers: 1,198 craters (23.0%)
  •   lunar: 1,624 craters (31.2%)
  •   Martian: 1,092 craters (21.0%)
  •   Venerian: 900 craters (17.3%)
  •   Mercurian: 397 craters (7.6%)
  •   Others: 1,198 craters (23.0%)
Distribution of named craters in the Solar System as of 2017.

Catalog of named craters

The catalog is divided into three partial lists:

Names are grouped into tables for each letter of the alphabet, containing the crater's name (linked if article exists), coordinates, diameter in kilometers, year of official name adoption (approval), the eponym ("named after") and a direct reference to the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.[1]

Statistics

As of 2017, Martian craters account for 21% of all 5,211 named craters in the Solar System. Apart from the Moon, no other body has as many named craters as Mars. Other, non-planetary bodies with numerous named craters include Callisto (141), Ganymede (131), Rhea (128), Vesta (90), Ceres (90), Dione (73), Iapetus (58), Enceladus (53), Tethys (50) and Europa (41). For a full list, see List of craters in the Solar System.

Largest craters

Some of the largest craters on Mars remain unnamed. Diameters differ depending on source data.

Crater[lower-alpha 1] Coordinates Diameter (km)[lower-alpha 2] Elliptical major axis (km) Elliptical minor axis (km) Rank by approx. area Approval date Named after Refs
Huygens13.96°S 55.58°E / -13.96; 55.58 (Huygens)467.25484.89450.5411973Christiaan HuygensWGPSN
Schiaparelli2.69°S 16.79°E / -2.69; 16.79 (Schiaparelli)458.52 (445.76)462.51430.421973Giovanni SchiaparelliWGPSN
Unnamed38.1°N 167.15°W / 38.1; -167.15376.35452.74384.93––—
Greeley36.63°S 3.19°E / -36.63; 3.19 (Greeley)457.45 (427.15)438.81395.7142015Ronald GreeleyWGPSN
Cassini22.59°N 32.11°E / 22.59; 32.11 (Cassini)408.23411.45402.4251973Giovanni CassiniWGPSN
Antoniadi21.59°N 60.84°E / 21.59; 60.84 (Antoniadi)400.95417.04389.6861973Eugène Michael AntoniadiWGPSN
Dollfus20.99°S 3.83°W / -20.99; -3.83 (Dollfus)363.08 (358.72)367.94346.9872013Audouin DollfusWGPSN
Unnamed59.01°S 76.89°W / -59.01; -76.89341.1391.76325.828––—
Tikhonravov12.92°N 35.91°E / 12.92; 35.91 (Tikhonravov)343.7356.28331.8591985Mikhail TikhonravovWGPSN
Unnamed23.39°N 53.24°E / 23.39; 53.24340.12351.4330.1310––—
Unnamed0.99°S 28.86°E / -0.99; 28.86325.8347308.5811––—
Newton40.52°S 158.06°W / -40.52; -158.06 (Newton)299.94 (312.44)318.37307.37121973Isaac NewtonWGPSN
Unnamed59.53°S 83.89°W / -59.53; -83.89301.99319.91297.0613––—
Unnamed24.47°S 32.12°W / -24.47; -32.12300.36323.73291.7214––—
de Vaucouleurs13.67°S 171.09°E / -13.67; 171.09 (de Vaucouleurs)302.27 (311.68)316.11297.19152000Gérard de VaucouleursWGPSN
Copernicus48.88°S 168.82°W / -48.88; -168.82 (Copernicus)301.83320.69284.51161973Nicolaus CopernicusWGPSN
Unnamed52.55°S 109.57°W / -52.55; -109.57326.77343.52260.7517––—
Herschel14.15°S 129.89°E / -14.15; 129.89 (Herschel)297.92301.56294.41181973John Herschel and William HerschelWGPSN
Schroeter1.89°S 55.99°E / -1.89; 55.99 (Schroeter)291.59298.12285.7191973Johann Hieronymus SchröterWGPSN
Koval'sky29.73°S 141.43°W / -29.73; -141.43 (Koval'sky)296.67 (285.14)288.89281.38201985Marian Albertovich KowalskiWGPSN

Notes
  1. Data in this table includes contents from:
    • Planetary Names: Search Results, International Astronomical Union Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) at Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature (access date June 2017).
      • only this data-set provides an approval date, eponym and WGSPN-link to an object webpage;
    • Mars Crater Database Search, Robbins, S.J., and B.M. Hynek (2012). A New Global Database of Mars Impact Craters ≥1 km: 1. Database Creation, Properties, and Parameters. Journal of Geophysical Research – Planets
      • Elliptical measurements (used to compute the approx. area), and the details on unnamed craters are only available in this data-set.
  2. The entries containing two diameter values are due to presumably newer data being available via Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The value consistent with the Robbins data is included in parenthesis for completeness.

Example crater
An approximate true-color image, taken by Mars exploration rover Opportunity, shows the view of Victoria crater from Cape Verde. It was captured over a three-week period, from October 16 – November 6, 2006.

See also

References
  1. "Nomenclature Search Results: Mars > Crater, Craters". usgs.gov. Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature – International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  2. "Categories for Naming Features on Planets and Satellites". usgs.gov. Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature – International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN). Retrieved 10 August 2017.
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