Cassini (Martian crater)

For the lunar crater, see Cassini (lunar crater). For other things named Cassini, see Cassini (disambiguation).
Cassini Crater
Planet Mars
Diameter 415 km
Eponym Giovanni Domenico Cassini

Cassini is a crater on Mars named in honour of the Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini.

The crater is approximately 415 km in diameter and can be found at 327.9°W and 23.8°N.[1] It is in the Arabia quadrangle of Mars.

Recent research leads scientists to believe that some of the craters in Arabia may have held huge lakes. Cassini Crater probably once was full of water since its rim seems to have been breached by the waters. Both inflow and outflow channels have been observed on its rim. The lake would have contained more water than Earth's Lake Baikal, our largest freshwater lake by volume.[2]

References

  1. ^ http://ic.arc.nasa.gov/projects/bayes-group/Atlas/Mars/features/crater/index.html
  2. ^ Fassett, C. and J. Head III. 2008. Valley network-fed, open-basin lakes on Mars: Distribution and implications for Noachian surface and subsurface hydrology. Icarus: 198. 39-56.