Praxiteles (crater)
Praxiteles is a crater on Mercury. It is one of many peak-ring basins on Mercury.
 Color-enhanced photograph by MESSENGER | |
| Planet | Mercury |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 27.11°N 60.28°W |
| Quadrangle | Victoria quadrangle |
| Diameter | 198 km |
| Eponym | Praxiteles |
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. The colors near these depressions in WAC images are similar to those near volcanoes discovered during the mission's first Mercury flyby along the inner edge of the Caloris basin. The similar colors and the association with the irregular depressions (possible volcanic vents) are suggestive of past volcanic activity on the floor of Praxiteles.[1]
The light coloration associated with the peak ring is now known as Orm Facula.[2]
Praxiteles crater, first observed by Mariner 10, was named after the ancient Greek sculptor Praxiteles.
Another view from MESSENGER
Close up of hollows on the eastern peak ring
References
- "Overlaying Color onto Praxiteles Crater". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
- Orm Facula, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)
