Rachmaninoff is an

impact crater An impact crater is a depression (geology), depression in the surface of a solid astronomical body formed by the hypervelocity impact event, impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal c ...

on Mercury. This basin, first imaged in its entirety during ''

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 ...

''s third Mercury flyby, was quickly identified as a feature of high scientific interest, because of its fresh appearance, its distinctively colored interior plains, and the extensional troughs on its floor. The morphology of Rachmaninoff is similar to that of Raditladi, which is one of the youngest impact basins on Mercury. The age of Raditladi is estimated at one billion years. Rachmaninoff appears to be only slightly older. The central part of Rachmaninoff is occupied by a

peak ring A peak ring crater is a type of complex crater, which is different from a multi-ringed basin or central-peak crater. A central peak is not seen; instead, a roughly circular ring or plateau, possibly discontinuous, surrounds the Impact crater, crat ...

130 km in diameter and somewhat elongated in the north–south direction. The area within it is covered by bright reddish smooth plains, which are different in color from the plains outside the peak ring. These plains are likely to be of volcanic origin because they show signs of flow. They also over-topped and covered the southern portion of the peak ring itself. The lowest recorded elevation on Mercury, 5380 meters below the global average, lies within Rachmaninoff Basin. Rachmaninoff is one of 110 peak ring basins on Mercury.Chapman, C. R., Baker, D. M. H., Barnouin, O. S., Fassett, C. I., Marchie, S., Merline, W. J., Ostrach, L. R., Prockter, L. M., and Strom, R. G., 2018. Impact Cratering of Mercury. In ''Mercury: The View After

'' edited by Sean C. Solomon, Larry R. Nittler, and Brian J. Anderson. Cambridge Planetary Science. Chapter 9. The smooth plains inside the peak ring were deformed by a set of concentric

graben In geology, a graben () is a depression (geology), depressed block of the Crust (geology), crust of a planet or moon, bordered by parallel normal faults. Etymology ''Graben'' is a loan word from German language, German, meaning 'ditch' or 't ...

(troughs) much like those inside Raditladi. The troughs are located at half the distance to the peak ring from the center of the crater. Rachmaninoff is the fourth impact crater on Mercury (after Caloris,

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

and Raditladi), where extensional tectonic features have been observed. The formation mechanism of the graben remains unknown. The crater is named after

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and Conducting, conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a compos ...

, a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor (1873–1943). A distinct bright area between the inner peak ring and the rim in the southeast portion of the crater is known as

Suge Facula Suge Facula is a bright region on the surface of Mercury (planet), Mercury, located at 26.1 N, 300.4 W. It was named by the International Astronomical Union, IAU in 2018. ''Suge'' is the Basque language, Basque word for snake. Suge Facula lies ...

. To the north of Rachmaninoff is Neidr Facula, and to the northeast is Nathair Facula. To the west is Asawa crater, and to the southwest are the Calypso Rupes.

Views

File:Rachmaninoff crater color.1000.750.430.png, Rachmaninoff crater in approximate color File:Rachmaninoff crater interior EW0252265399G.3band.web.png, The interior of the central peak ring, showing detail of the ring of graben File:Rachmaninoff crater.png, Mosaic from

's third flyby File:Rachmaninoff Basin topography JMARS Colorized Shade 2km.jpg, Rachmaninoff Basin topography, showing that its center is one of the lowest places on the planet at approximately 5 km below the global average

References

{{Sergei Rachmaninoff Impact craters on Mercury Sergei Rachmaninoff