Lermontov (crater)

Lermontov is an impact crater on the planet Mercury, 152 kilometers in diameter. It is located at 15.2°N, 48.1°W, southwest of the crater Proust and northeast of the crater Giotto. It has a circular rim and a flat crater floor. The crater is named after Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov, a 19th-century Russian poet. The name was approved by the International Astronomical Union in 1976.[1][2][3]

Lermontov
Photo of Lermontov by MESSENGER from its second flyby in 2008
PlanetMercury
RegionKuiper quadrangle
Coordinates15.2°N 48.1°W / 15.2; -48.1
QuadrangleKuiper quadrangle
Diameter152 km
EponymMikhail Yuryevich Lermontov

The crater floor is somewhat brighter than the exterior surface and is smooth with several irregularly shaped depressions. Such features, similar to those found on the floor of Praxiteles, may be evidence of past explosive volcanic activity on the crater floor. Lermontov appears reddish in enhanced-color views, suggesting that it has a different composition from the surrounding surface.[4]

Views
  • Mariner 10 image with Lermontov in upper right corner
  • Lermontov in approximate color
  • Oblique view of the interior of Lermontov. Bright spots are hollows.
  • Hollows in northern Lermontov crater
  • One of the depressions in Lermontov

References
  1. "USGS Astro: Planetary Nomenclature: Feature Data Search Results". USGS Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature Feature Information. Retrieved October 28, 2007.
  2. NASA World Wind 1.4. NASA Ames Research Center, 2007.
  3. Blewett, D. T., B. R. Hawke, P. G. Lucey, and M. S. Robinson (2007), A Mariner 10 color study of Mercurian craters, J. Geophys. Res., 112, E02005, doi:10.1029/2006JE002713.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2009-07-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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