Balzac is a crater on Mercury. Its name was adopted by the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

in 1976. Balzac is named for the French writer

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly ; ; born Honoré Balzac; 20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine'', which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is ...

, who lived from 1799 to 1850. The crater was first imaged by

Mariner 10 ''Mariner 10'' was an American Robotic spacecraft, robotic space probe launched by NASA on 3 November 1973, to fly by the planets Mercury (planet), Mercury and Venus. It was the first spacecraft to perform flybys of multiple planets. ''Marin ...

in 1974. Balzac is one of the largest craters of the Kuiperian system on Mercury. The largest is Bartók crater.Denevi, B. W., Ernst, C. M., Prockter, L. M., and Robinson, M. S., 2018. The Geologic History of Mercury. In ''Mercury: The View After

MESSENGER Messenger, Messengers, The Messenger or The Messengers may refer to: People * Courier, a person or company that delivers messages, packages, or mail * Messenger (surname) * Bicycle messenger, a bicyclist who transports packages through cities * M ...

'' edited by Sean C. Solomon, Larry R. Nittler, and Brian J. Anderson. Cambridge Planetary Science. Chapter 6, Table 6.4. Hollows are present within Balzac.

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Mariner 10 image 0000214.png,

image with Balzac in upper right Balzac crater EN0227471829M EN0227471831M.jpg, MESSENGER mosaic Balzac crater MESSENGER WAC IGF to RGB.jpg, Approximate color image of Balzac crater Balzac crater EN0262546208M.jpg, Oblique view of northern Balzac

References

Impact craters on Mercury {{Mercury-planet-stub