Caloris Planitia - wikipedia Caloris Planitia Caloris Mosaic of the Caloris basin based on photographs by the MESSENGER orbiter. Planet Mercury Coordinates 30 ° 30 ′ N 189 ° 48 ′ W ﻿ / ﻿ 30.5 ° N 189.8 ° W ﻿ / 30.5 ; - 189.8 Coordinates : 30 ° 30 ′ N 189 ° 48 ′ W ﻿ / ﻿ 30.5 ° N 189.8 ° W ﻿ / 30.5 ; - 189.8 Diameter 1,550 km ( 963 mi ) Eponym Latin for `` heat '' Caloris Planitia is a plain within a large impact basin on Mercury, informally named Caloris, about 1,550 km ( 960 mi ) in diameter. It is one of the largest impact basins in the Solar System. `` Calor '' is Latin for `` heat '' and the basin is so - named because the Sun is almost directly overhead every second time Mercury passes perihelion. The crater, discovered in 1974, is surrounded by a ring of mountains approximately 2 km ( 1.2 mi ) tall. Contents 1 Appearance 2 Formation 3 Antipodal chaotic terrain and global effects 4 Emissions of gas 5 Gallery 6 References 7 See also Appearance MESSENGER 's first image of the unseen side of Mercury from a distance of about 27,000 kilometres ( 17,000 mi ) cropped to highlight Caloris. The rim is hard to discern as the Sun is directly overhead, preventing shadows. Caloris was discovered on images taken by the Mariner 10 probe in 1974. Its name was suggested by Brian O'Leary, astronaut and member of the Mariner 10 imagery team. It was situated on the terminator -- the line dividing the daytime and nighttime hemispheres -- at the time the probe passed by, and so half of the crater could not be imaged. Later, on January 15, 2008, one of the first photos of the planet taken by the MESSENGER probe revealed the crater in its entirety. The basin was initially estimated to be about 810 mi ( 1,300 km ) in diameter, though this was increased to 960 mi ( 1,540 km ) based on subsequent images taken by MESSENGER. It is ringed by mountains up to 2 km ( 1.2 mi ) high. Inside the crater walls, the floor of the crater is filled by lava plains, similar to the maria of the Moon. These plains are superposed by explosive vents associated with pyroclastic material. Outside the walls, material ejected in the impact which created the basin extends for 1,000 km ( 620 mi ), and concentric rings surround the crater. In the center of the basin is a region containing numerous radial troughs that appear to be extensional faults, with a 40 km ( 25 mi ) crater located near the center of the pattern. The exact cause of this pattern of troughs is not currently known. The feature is named Pantheon Fossae. Formation Comparison of the original estimated size of the Caloris basin ( yellow ) with that based on images from the MESSENGER probe ( blue ). The impacting body is estimated to have been at least 100 km ( 62 miles ) in diameter. Bodies in the inner Solar System experienced a heavy bombardment of large rocky bodies in the first billion years or so of the Solar System. The impact that created Caloris must have occurred after most of the heavy bombardment had finished, because fewer impact craters are seen on its floor than exist on comparably - sized regions outside the crater. Similar impact basins on the Moon such as the Mare Imbrium and Mare Orientale are believed to have formed at about the same time, possibly indicating that there was a ' spike ' of large impacts towards the end of the heavy bombardment phase of the early Solar System. Based on MESSENGER 's photographs, Caloris ' age has been determined to be between 3.8 and 3.9 billion years. Antipodal chaotic terrain and global effects Hilly, lineated terrain at the antipode of Caloris. Close up of the chaotic terrain. The giant impact believed to have formed Caloris may have had global consequences for the planet. At the exact antipode of the basin is a large area of hilly, grooved terrain, with few small impact craters that are known as chaotic terrain ( also `` weird terrain '' ). It is thought by some to have been created as seismic waves from the impact converged on the opposite side of the planet. Alternatively, it has been suggested that this terrain formed as a result of the convergence of ejecta at this basin 's antipode. This hypothetical impact is also believed to have triggered volcanic activity on Mercury, resulting in the formation of smooth plains. Surrounding Caloris is a series of geologic formations thought to have been produced by the basin 's ejecta, collectively called the Caloris Group. Emissions of gas Mercury has a very tenuous and transient atmosphere, containing small amounts of hydrogen and helium captured from the solar wind, as well as heavier elements such as sodium and potassium. These are thought to originate within the planet, being `` out - gassed '' from beneath its crust. The Caloris basin has been found to be a significant source of sodium and potassium, indicating that the fractures created by the impact facilitate the release of gases from within the planet. The weird terrain is also a source of these gases. Gallery Mosaic of half of Caloris basin photographed by Mariner 10 in 1974 -- 75. Pantheon Fossae in Caloris Enhanced color image of craters amid plains near Caloris basin Perspective view of Caloris -- high ( red ) ; low ( blue ). References ^ Jump up to : Shiga, David ( 2008 - 01 - 30 ). `` Bizarre spider scar found on Mercury 's surface ''. NewScientist.com news service. Jump up ^ Morrison D. ( 1976 ). `` IAU nomenclature for topographic features on Mercury ''. Icarus. 28 : 605 -- 606. Bibcode : 1976Icar... 28... 605M. doi : 10.1016 / 0019 - 1035 ( 76 ) 90134 - 2. ^ Jump up to : Thomas, Rebecca J. ; Rothery, David A. ; Conway, Susan J. ; Anand, Mahesh ( 16 September 2014 ). `` Long - lived explosive volcanism on Mercury ''. Geophysical Research Letters. 41 ( 17 ) : 6084 -- 6092. Bibcode : 2014GeoRL... 41.6084 T. doi : 10.1002 / 2014GL061224. Jump up ^ Mercury 's First Fossae Archived 2014 - 07 - 14 at the Wayback Machine... MESSENGER. May 5, 2008. Accessed on July 13, 2009. Jump up ^ Coffey, Jerry ( July 9, 2009 ). `` Caloris Basin ''. Universe Today. Archived from the original on August 31, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2012. Jump up ^ Gault, D.E. ; Cassen, P. ; Burns, J.A. ; Strom, R.G. ( 1977 ). `` Mercury ''. Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics. 15 : 97 -- 126. Bibcode : 1977ARA&A... 15... 97G. doi : 10.1146 / annurev. aa. 15.090177. 000525. Jump up ^ Schultz, P.H. ; Gault, D.E. ( 1975 ). `` Seismic effects from major basin formations on the moon and Mercury ''. The Moon. 12 ( 2 ) : 159 -- 177. Bibcode : 1975Moon... 12... 159S. doi : 10.1007 / BF00577875. Jump up ^ Wieczorek, Mark A. ; Zuber, Maria T. ( 2001 ). `` A Serenitatis origin for the Imbrian grooves and South Pole - Aitken thorium anomaly ''. Journal of Geophysical Research. 106 ( E11 ) : 27853 -- 27864. Bibcode : 2001JGR... 10627853W. doi : 10.1029 / 2000JE001384. Retrieved 2008 - 05 - 12. Jump up ^ Kiefer, W.S. ; Murray, B.C. ( 1987 ). `` The formation of Mercury 's smooth plains ''. Icarus. 72 ( 3 ) : 477 -- 491. Bibcode : 1987Icar... 72... 477K. doi : 10.1016 / 0019 - 1035 ( 87 ) 90046 - 7. Jump up ^ Sprague, A.L. ; Kozlowski, R.W.H. ; Hunten, D.M. ( 1990 ). `` Caloris Basin : An Enhanced Source for Potassium in Mercury 's Atmosphere ''. Science. 249 ( 4973 ) : 1140 -- 1142. Bibcode : 1990Sci... 249.1140 S. doi : 10.1126 / science. 249.4973. 1140. PMID 17831982. See also Geology of Mercury Skinakas basin Mercury Outline of Mercury Geography General Albedo features Atmosphere Features Magnetic field Regions Quadrangles Quadrangles Bach Beethoven Borealis Debussy Derain Discovery Eminescu Hokusai Kuiper Michelangelo Neruda Shakespeare Raditladi Tolstoj Victoria Mountains and volcanoes Caloris Montes Plains and plateaus Borealis Planitia Budh Planitia Caloris Planitia Odin Planitia Sobkou Planitia Suisei Planitia Tir Planitia Canyons and valleys Arecibo Catena Arecibo Vallis Goldstone Catena Goldstone Vallis Haystack Catena Haystack Vallis Simeiz Vallis Ridges and rupes Antoniadi Dorsum Adventure Rupes Beagle Rupes Discovery Rupes Enterprise Rupes Hero Rupes Resolution Rupes Santa María Rupes Victoria Rupes Basins and fossae Caloris Basin Pantheon Fossae Raditladi Basin Rembrandt Basin Skinakas ( hypothetical basin ) Craters Abedin Abu Nuwas Africanus Horton Ahmad Baba Ailey Aksakov Al - Akhtal Al - Hamadhani Al - Jāhiz Alencar Amaral Amru Al - Qays Andal Apollodorus Aristoxenes Aśvaghosa Atget Bach Balagtas Balanchine Balzac Bartók Barma Bashō Beckett Beethoven Bek Belinskij Bello Benoit Berkel Bernini Bjornson Boccaccio Boethius Botticelli Brahms Bramante Brontë Bruegel Brunelleschi Burns Byron Callicrates Camoes Carducci Calvino Cervantes Cézanne Chaikovskij Chao Meng - Fu Chekov Chiang K'ui Chong Ch'ol Chopin Chu Ta Coleridge Copland Copley Couperin Crater of eternal darkness Cunningham Dali Dario De Graft Debussy Degas Delacroix Derain Derzhavin Desprez Dickens Dominici Donne Dostoevskij Dowland Durer Dvorak Eastman Eitoku Eminescu Enwonwu Equiano Fet Firdousi Flaubert Futabatei Gainsborough Gauguin Geddes Ghiberti Gibran Giotto Glinka Gluck Goethe Gogol Goya Grieg Guido d'Arezzo Hals Han Kan Handel Harunobu Hauptmann Hawthorne Haydn Heine Hemingway Hesiod Hiroshige Hitomaro Hodgkins Hokusai Holbein Holberg Holst Homer Horace Hovnatanian Hugo Hun Kal Ibsen Ictinus Imhotep Ives Izquierdo Janáček Jokai Judah Ha - Levi Kalidasa Keats Kenko Kertész Khansa Kipling Kōshō Kuan Han - ch'ing Kuiper Kunisada Kurosawa Lange Leopardi Lermontov Lessing Li Ch'ing - Chao Li Po Liang K'ai Liszt Lu Hsun Lysippus Ma Chih - Yuan Machaut Mahler Mansart Mansur March Mark Twain Marti Martial Matabei Matisse Melville Mena Mendes Pinto Michelangelo Mickiewicz Milton Mistral Mofolo Molière Monet Monteverdi Moody Mozart Munch Munkácsy Murasaki Mussorgskij Myron Nampeyo Navoi Nawahi Neruda Nervo Neumann Nizami Okyo Oskison Ovid Petrarch Phidias Picasso Poe Polygnotus Praxiteles Prokofiev Qi Baishi Rachmaninoff Raden Saleh Raditladi Rameau Raphael Rembrandt Renoir Rodin Rudaki Sander Scarlatti Schubert Shakespeare Sholem Aleichem Sinan Stravinsky Sullivan Sveinsdóttir Titian To Ngoc Van Tolstoj Verdi Vivaldi Vyasa Xiao Zhao Yeats Zola Other Geology Ghost craters Inter-crater plains Moons Mercury 's `` moon '' Astronomy Transits Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Asteroids Mercury - crossing asteroids Exploration Current and past Mariner 10 ( 1973 -- 1975 ) MESSENGER ( 2004 -- 2015 ) Planned BepiColombo ( 2018 ) Proposed Mercury - P ( ~ 2031 ) See also Colonization of Mercury Related Fiction Sub-Earth Book Portal Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Caloris_Planitia&oldid=824286604 '' Categories : Raditladi quadrangle Impact craters on Mercury Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Coordinates on Wikidata Good articles Talk Contents About Wikipedia Български Čeština Deutsch Français Galego हिन्दी Hrvatski Italiano Lëtzebuergesch 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk Occitan Polski Português Русский Slovenčina Српски / srpski Suomi Svenska Українська 中文 14 more Edit links This page was last edited on 6 February 2018, at 13 : 09. 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Question: where is the caloris basin located on mercury
Answer: 30°30′N 189°48′W﻿ / ﻿30.5°N 189.8°