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Lermontov (crater)
Encyclopedia
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. Lermontov is likely a mature crater, but it remains a bright feature because of low opaque material on its floor. The crater is named after Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov, a 19th century Russia
n poet. The name was approved by the International Astronomical Union
in 1976.
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.
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...
on the planet 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...
, 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. Lermontov is likely a mature crater, but it remains a bright feature because of low opaque material on its floor. The crater is named after Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov, a 19th century Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n poet. The name was approved by the International Astronomical Union
International Astronomical Union
The International Astronomical Union IAU is a collection of professional astronomers, at the Ph.D. level and beyond, active in professional research and education in astronomy...
in 1976.
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
Praxiteles (crater)
Praxiteles is a crater on Mercury.MESSENGER's high-resolution images obtained during the mission's second Mercury flyby have revealed a number of irregularly shaped depressions on the floor of Praxiteles crater, making it a pit-floor crater...
, 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.