Skinakas Basin

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The Skinakas Basin is the informal name given to a structure on Mercury that appears to be an extremely large impact basin. The traditional name for this region of Mercury is Solitudo Aphrodites. The limited-resolution images available show a double-ringed structure, with the inner ring having a diameter of around 1600 km, which would make it one of the largest impact basins in the solar system. It appears to be even larger than the Caloris Basin on Mercury, which has been known since the Mariner 10 flybys of that planet. The part of the outer ring that was imaged appears to correspond to a diameter of around 2300 km.

The basin is centered at about 280°W, 8° N, and lies on the hemisphere of Mercury that was not imaged by Mariner 10. But it may be seen partially for the first time taken with the webcam by the Boston University scientists in 1998. In 2001, it was observed and imaged by ALPO (Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers) members. It was then known as Solitudo Aphrodites. But it was followed by L. Ksanfomality from lucky imaging observations in 2004. The informal name is after the Skinakas observatory on Crete where the observations were taken. Despite radar images having a far greater resolution they are not useful for detecting very large impact basins such as this one; for example, the Caloris Basin is also not visible in radar.

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Last updated on Monday February 11, 2008 at 01:05:01 PST (GMT -0800)
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