Pantheon Fossae
Encyclopedia
Pantheon Fossae is a region in the center of Caloris Basin
on Mercury
containing numerous radial graben
(troughs) that appear to be extensional fault
s, with a 40 km crater located near the center of the pattern. The exact cause of this pattern of troughs is not currently known. The feature was nicknamed "the Spider" before receiving its official name.
The name is taken from the Pantheon in Rome, an ancient temple with a classic domed roof. The dome of the Pantheon has a series of sunken panels that radiate from a central circular opening at the top of the dome, and Mercury’s Pantheon Fossae is reminiscent of this pattern. Consequently, the crater near the center of Pantheon Fossae is now named Apollodorus
, after the Greek engineer Apollodorus
who is credited by some as being the architect of the Pantheon. MESSENGER
scientists are debating whether Apollodorus played a role in the formation of Pantheon Fossae or whether the crater is simply from a later impact that occurred close to the center of the radial pattern.
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...
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...
containing numerous radial 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....
(troughs) that appear to be extensional fault
Extensional fault
An extensional fault is a fault that vertically thins and horizontally extends portions of the Earth's crust and/or lithosphere. In most cases such a fault is also a normal fault, but may be rotated to have a shallower geometry normally associated with a thrust fault...
s, with a 40 km crater located near the center of the pattern. The exact cause of this pattern of troughs is not currently known. The feature was nicknamed "the Spider" before receiving its official name.
The name is taken from the Pantheon in Rome, an ancient temple with a classic domed roof. The dome of the Pantheon has a series of sunken panels that radiate from a central circular opening at the top of the dome, and Mercury’s Pantheon Fossae is reminiscent of this pattern. Consequently, the crater near the center of Pantheon Fossae is now named Apollodorus
Apollodorus (crater)
Apollodorus is an impact crater on Mercury. It is located near the center of Pantheon Fossae, which is a system of radial grabens situated in the inner part of the Caloris basin...
, after the Greek engineer Apollodorus
Apollodorus of Damascus
Apollodorus of Damascus was a Greek engineer, architect, designer and sculptor who flourished during the 2nd century AD, from Damascus, Roman Syria. He was a favourite of Trajan, for whom he constructed Trajan's Bridge over the Danube for the 105-106 campaign in Dacia. He also designed the Forum...
who is credited by some as being the architect of the Pantheon. MESSENGER
MESSENGER
The MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging space probe is a robotic NASA spacecraft in orbit around the planet Mercury. The spacecraft was launched aboard a Delta II rocket in August 2004 to study the chemical composition, geology, and magnetic field of Mercury...
scientists are debating whether Apollodorus played a role in the formation of Pantheon Fossae or whether the crater is simply from a later impact that occurred close to the center of the radial pattern.