Dark Craters on Ganymede
Explanation:
Ganymede has
craters within
craters within
craters.
The old surface of the
largest moon in the
Solar System shows its
age
by the large amount of these impact features. The
above picture released last week
shows two old craters with dark floors located
in a relatively bright region known as
Memphis Facula,
a region itself thought created by an ancient collision.
The strange dark floors of these craters were
themselves created long ago and now house craters
of their own.
Crater Chrysor, on the left, spans about 6000 meters,
about half that of crater Aleyn on the right. The
robot spacecraft Galileo took the
above photograph
during a flyby of this moon of
Jupiter in June 1996.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
