The Derain
quadrangle (H-10) is one of
fifteen quadrangles on Mercury. It runs from 288° to 360° west longitude and from 22° S to 22° N latitude. Named after the
Derain crater, it was mapped in detail for the first time after ''
MESSENGER
''MESSENGER'' was a NASA robotic space probe that orbited the planet Mercury between 2011 and 2015, studying Mercury's chemical composition, geology, and magnetic field. The name is a backronym for "Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geoch ...
'' entered orbit around
Mercury in 2011. It had not been mapped prior to that point because it was one of the six quadrangles that was not illuminated when ''
Mariner 10
''Mariner 10'' was an American robotic space probe launched by NASA on 3 November 1973, to fly by the planets Mercury and Venus. It was the first spacecraft to perform flybys of multiple planets.
''Mariner 10'' was launched approximately ...
'' made its flybys in 1974 and 1975. These six quadrangles continued to be known by their
albedo feature
An albedo feature is a large area on the surface of a planet (or other Solar System body) which shows a contrast in brightness or darkness (albedo) with adjacent areas.
Historically, albedo features were the first (and usually only) features to b ...
names, with this one known as the Pieria quadrangle.
The hypothetical
Skinakas Basin
The Skinakas basin is the informal name given to a structure on mercury (planet), Mercury that appeared to be an extremely large impact basin. The limited-resolution images available showed a double-ringed structure, with the inner ring having a ...
was thought to exist on the west side of the quadrangle, but MESSENGER images did not confirm its existence. The large
Lennon-Picasso Basin covers much of the eastern part of the quadrangle.
Kuiper quadrangle
The Kuiper quadrangle, located in a heavily cratered region of Mercury, includes the young, 55-km-diameter crater Kuiper (11° S., 31.5° ), which has the highest albedo recorded on the planet,Hapke, Bruce, Danielson, G. E., Jr., Klaasen, Kennet ...
is to the west of Derain quadrangle, and
Eminescu quadrangle
The Eminescu quadrangle (H-9) is one of fifteen quadrangles on Mercury. It runs from 216 to 288° longitude and from -25 to 25° latitude. Named after the Eminescu crater, it was mapped in detail for the first time after ''MESSENGER'' entered ...
is to the east.
Hokusai quadrangle
The Hokusai quadrangle (H-5) is one of fifteen quadrangles on the planet Mercury. It runs from 360 to 270° longitude and 20 to 70° latitude. Named after the Hokusai crater, it was mapped in detail for the first time after ''MESSENGER'' enter ...
is to the north, and
Debussy quadrangle is to the south.
References
Surface features of Mercury by quadrangle
{{crater-stub