Hipparchus (Martian crater)

Hipparchus is an impact crater in the Phaethontis quadrangle of Mars, located at 44.8° S latitude and 151.4° W longitude. It is 93 kilometers (58 miles) in diameter. It was named after the ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus in 1973.[1]

Hipparchus Crater
Location of Hipparchus Crater
PlanetMars
RegionPhaethontis quadrangle
Coordinates44°48′S 151°24′W / 44.8°S 151.4°W / -44.8; -151.4
QuadranglePhaethontis
Diameter93 km
EponymHipparchus

Channels edit

There is abundant evidence that water once flowed in river valleys on Mars.[2][3] Images of curved channels have been seen in images from Mars spacecraft dating back to the early seventies with the Mariner 9 orbiter.[4][5][6][7] Indeed, a study published in June 2017, calculated that the volume of water needed to carve all the channels on Mars was even larger than the proposed ocean that the planet may have had. Water was probably recycled many times from the ocean to rainfall around Mars.[8][9] Some of the pictures on this page show channels in Hipparchus Crater.

Gallery edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature | Hipparchus". usgs.gov. International Astronomical Union. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  2. ^ Baker, V., et al. 2015. Fluvial geomorphology on Earth-like planetary surfaces: a review. Geomorphology. 245, 149–182.
  3. ^ Carr, M. 1996. in Water on Mars. Oxford Univ. Press.
  4. ^ Baker, V. 1982. The Channels of Mars. Univ. of Tex. Press, Austin, TX
  5. ^ Baker, V., R. Strom, R., V. Gulick, J. Kargel, G. Komatsu, V. Kale. 1991. Ancient oceans, ice sheets and the hydrological cycle on Mars. Nature 352, 589–594.
  6. ^ Carr, M. 1979. Formation of Martian flood features by release of water from confined aquifers. J. Geophys. Res. 84, 2995–300.
  7. ^ Komar, P. 1979. Comparisons of the hydraulics of water flows in Martian outflow channels with flows of similar scale on Earth. Icarus 37, 156–181.
  8. ^ "How Much Water Was Needed to Carve Valleys on Mars? - SpaceRef".
  9. ^ Luo, W., et al. 2017. New Martian valley network volume estimate consistent with ancient ocean and warm and wet climate. Nature Communications 8. Article number: 15766 (2017). doi:10.1038/ncomms15766