Beethoven (crater)
Encyclopedia
Beethoven is a crater
at latitude –20, longitude 124 on Mercury
. It is 643 km in diameter and was named after Ludwig van Beethoven
. It is the eleventh largest named impact crater in the Solar System
and the third largest on Mercury.
Unlike many basins of similar size on the Moon
, Beethoven is not multi-ringed. Remnant ejecta blankets around parts of the Beethoven are subdued in appearance and their margins poorly defined in places. The crater wall (rim) of Beethoven is buried by its ejecta blanket and by plains materials and is barely visible. The floor of the basin is covered with intermediate smooth plains material, which has the same reflectance as the exterior intermediate terrain. However there is no wrinkle ridges or graben
inside the basin like those in Caloris.
Spudis and Prosser have suggested that Beethoven may possibly be late c3 in age or as old as early c2, which means that it is older than the Caloris Basin
. The depth of Beethoven is estimated to be from the stereo
derived digital elevation models based on Mariner 10
images of the planet. This is significantly less than the depth of lunar basins of the similar size indicating that Beethoven probably has relaxed from its post impact shape. There is also a broad topographic rise in the north–west margin of Beethoven.
Impact crater
In the broadest sense, the term impact crater can be applied to any depression, natural or manmade, resulting from the high velocity impact of a projectile with a larger body...
at latitude –20, longitude 124 on Mercury
Mercury (planet)
Mercury is the innermost and smallest planet in the Solar System, orbiting the Sun once every 87.969 Earth days. The orbit of Mercury has the highest eccentricity of all the Solar System planets, and it has the smallest axial tilt. It completes three rotations about its axis for every two orbits...
. It is 643 km in diameter and was named after Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
. It is the eleventh largest named impact crater in the Solar System
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
and the third largest on Mercury.
Unlike many basins of similar size on the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
, Beethoven is not multi-ringed. Remnant ejecta blankets around parts of the Beethoven are subdued in appearance and their margins poorly defined in places. The crater wall (rim) of Beethoven is buried by its ejecta blanket and by plains materials and is barely visible. The floor of the basin is covered with intermediate smooth plains material, which has the same reflectance as the exterior intermediate terrain. However there is no wrinkle ridges or graben
Graben
In geology, a graben is a depressed block of land bordered by parallel faults. Graben is German for ditch. Graben is used for both the singular and plural....
inside the basin like those in Caloris.
Spudis and Prosser have suggested that Beethoven may possibly be late c3 in age or as old as early c2, which means that it is older than the Caloris Basin
Caloris Basin
The Caloris Basin, also called Caloris Planitia, is a large impact crater on Mercury about in diameter, one of the largest impact basins in the solar system. Caloris is Latin for heat and the basin is so-named because the Sun is almost directly overhead every second time Mercury passes perihelion...
. The depth of Beethoven is estimated to be from the stereo
STEREO
STEREO is a solar observation mission. Two nearly identical spacecraft were launched into orbits that cause them to respectively pull farther ahead of and fall gradually behind the Earth...
derived digital elevation models based on Mariner 10
Mariner 10
Mariner 10 was an American robotic space probe launched by NASA on November 3, 1973, to fly by the planets Mercury and Venus. It was launched approximately two years after Mariner 9 and was the last spacecraft in the Mariner program...
images of the planet. This is significantly less than the depth of lunar basins of the similar size indicating that Beethoven probably has relaxed from its post impact shape. There is also a broad topographic rise in the north–west margin of Beethoven.