To Ngoc Van (crater)

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To Ngoc Van
To Ngoc Van crater MESSENGER WAC IGF to RGB.jpg
Central pit feature of To Ngoc Van crater by MESSENGER in approximate color
PlanetMercury
Coordinates52°29′N 111°42′W / 52.49°N 111.7°W / 52.49; -111.7Coordinates: 52°29′N 111°42′W / 52.49°N 111.7°W / 52.49; -111.7
QuadrangleShakespeare
Diameter71 km
EponymTo Ngoc Van[1]
Another MESSENGER image

To Ngoc Van is a pit-floored crater on Mercury, named after the Vietnamese artist Tô Ngọc Vân.[1] It was discovered in January 2008 during the first flyby of the planet by MESSENGER spacecraft.[2] Its floor displays an irregularly shaped collapse feature, which is called a central pit. The size of the pit is 21 × 10 km.[2] Such a feature may have resulted from collapse of a magma chamber underlying the central part of the crater. The collapse feature is an analog of Earth's volcanic calderas.[2]

To the southeast of To Ngoc Van is Bruegel crater, and to the northwest is Burns.

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature: To Ngoc Van". USGS. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Gillis-Davis, Jeffrey J.; Blewett, David T.; Gaskell, Robert W.; Denevi, Brett W.; Robinson, Mark S.; Strom, Robert G.; Solomon, Sean C.; Sprague, Ann L. (2009). "Pit-floor craters on Mercury: Evidence of near-surface igneous activity". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 285 (3–4): 243–250. Bibcode:2009E&PSL.285..243G. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2009.05.023. See unnamed crater 1.


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