Table of Contents
What are the three types of crater?
Lunar impact craters come in three basic types: simple craters, complex craters, and basins. Simple craters are what most people think of when they visualize a crater. They tend to be bowl-shaped with rounded or small, flat floors. Simple craters also have smooth rims that lack terraces.
What kind of crater is Pettit crater?
lunar impact crater
Pettit is a lunar impact crater that lies near the western limb of the Moon. It was named after American astronomer Edison Pettit. In this location the crater is viewed nearly from the side by observers on Earth, and visibility can be significantly affected by libration effects.
Is there a crater on the moon called Mitchell crater?
Mitchell is a lunar impact crater, which is attached to the eastern rim of the larger and more prominent crater Aristoteles. It was named after American astronomer Maria Mitchell. There is a slight notch in the southern rim, and the western wall has been completely absorbed by the rim of Aristoteles.
What are some crater names?
The five winning crater names are: Carolan, Enheduanna, Karsh, Kulthum and Rivera. The names were selected by the public outreach team for the spacecraft out of thousands of submissions to an open competition that closed in January.
What is a simple crater?
Definition. A simple crater is a bowl-shaped depression produced by an impact. Description. Simple craters are polygonal to circular bowl-shaped depressions with smooth to ragged raised rims. surrounded by a blanket of continuous ejecta.
How do you identify a crater?
Identifying impact craters
- A layer of shattered or “brecciated” rock under the floor of the crater.
- Shatter cones, which are chevron-shaped impressions in rocks.
- High-temperature rock types, including laminated and welded blocks of sand, spherulites and tektites, or glassy spatters of molten rock.
How far does Pettit Crater extend?
Pettit lies west of the giant volcano Olympus Mons. It is 92.49 km in diameter and was named after Edison Pettit, an American astronomer (1890–1962)….Pettit (Martian crater)
| Crater Pettit based on THEMIS day-time image | |
|---|---|
| Planet | Mars |
| Eponym | Edison Pettit, an American astronomer (1890-1962) |
What is a lunar crater called?
The majority of named lunar craters are satellite craters: their names consist of the name of a nearby named crater and a capital letter (for example, Copernicus A, Copernicus B, Copernicus C and so on). Lunar crater chains are usually named after a nearby crater. Their Latin names contain the word Catena (“chain”).
What shape are most lunar craters?
circular
Craters most often are circular. More elongate craters can be produced if an impactor strikes the surface at a very low angle — less than 20 degrees.
What is the Moon’s biggest crater?
South Pole-Aitken basin
On a Moon that’s absolutely covered with impact scars, the South Pole-Aitken basin really stands out. At 2,500 kilometres (1,550 miles) across and up to 8.2 kilometres (5.1 miles) deep, it’s one of the biggest impact craters in the Solar System.
What is the largest crater on Earth?
The Yilan Crater is the largest meteorite impact crater on Earth in 100,000 years, reported Xinhua News Agency.
How is a simple crater formed?
Craters are formed by the outward explosion of rocks and other materials from a volcano. Calderas are formed by the inward collapse of a volcano’s magma chamber.