Swift 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
Mars's moon Deimos. It is about in diameter. Swift is named after
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...
, whose 1726 book ''
Gulliver's Travels
''Gulliver's Travels'', originally titled ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'', is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clerg ...
'' predicted the existence of two
moons of Mars. Swift is one of two named features on Deimos, the other being
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...
. On 10 July 2006,
Mars Global Surveyor took an image of
Deimos from away showing Swift.
See also
*
Voltaire (crater)
*
Moons of Mars
*
Phobos (moon)
Phobos (; astronomical naming conventions, systematic designation: ) is the innermost and larger of the two moons of Mars, natural satellites of Mars, the other being Deimos (moon), Deimos. The two moons were discovered in 1877 by American as ...
*
Deimos (moon)
Deimos (; astronomical naming conventions#Natural satellites, systematic designation: Mars II) is the smaller and outer of the two moons of Mars, natural satellites of Mars, the other being Phobos (moon), Phobos. Deimos has a mean radius of an ...
References
Deimos (moon)
Impact craters on Mars's moons
Jonathan Swift
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