Cassini is a crater on

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

named in honour of the Italian astronomer

Giovanni Cassini Giovanni Domenico Cassini, also known as Jean-Dominique Cassini (8 June 1625 – 14 September 1712) was an Italian (naturalised French) mathematician, astronomer and engineer. Cassini was born in Perinaldo, near Imperia, at that time in the ...

. The name was approved in 1973, by the International Astronomical Union (IAU)

Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach ...

. The crater measures approximately 415 kilometers in diameter and can be found at 327.9°W and 23.4°N. It is in the

Arabia quadrangle The Arabia quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The Arabia quadrangle is also referred to as MC-12 (Mars Chart-12). The quadrangle contai ...

of Mars. Pictures of small craters on the floor of Cassini reveal multiple layers. Some of these layers can be easily seen in the pictures below. Many places on Mars show rocks arranged in layers. Rock can form layers in a variety of ways. Volcanoes, wind, or water can produce layers. A detailed discussion of layering with many Martian examples can be found in Sedimentary Geology 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. Many craters once contained lakes.Fassett, C. and J. Head. 2008. Open-basin lakes on Mars: Implications of valley network lakes for the nature of Noachian hydrology. Image:Cassini crater 378S66.jpg, Oblique view of Cassini and vicinity from Viking Orbiter 1, also showing

Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization, the latter of which was named after ...

crater (lower left), Indus Vallis (right), Scamander Vallis (bottom), and Arago crater (bottom right corner) Cassini crater Viking Orbiter 1 mosaic.jpg, Viking Orbiter 1 mosaic Image:Arabia map.JPG, Map of

with major craters. Cassini is in the upper right. Image:Cassini crater floor.JPG, Crater in the middle of Cassini crater, as seen by

HiRISE High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is a camera on board the '' Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter'' which has been orbiting and studying Mars since 2006. The 65 kg (143 lb), US$40 million instrument was built under the direction ...

. WikicassinilayersESP 028919 2030.jpg, Layers in a crater on the floor of Cassini Crater, as seen by HiRISE, under

HiWish program HiWish is a program created by NASA so that anyone can suggest a place for the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to photograph. It was started in January 2010. In the first few months of the program 3000 people signed up to use HiRIS ...

References

Impact craters on Mars

Arabia quadrangle {{crater-stub

See also

References