The Red Planet’s Airy Crater Lies in Meridiani Planum

Summary: The Red Planet’s Airy Crater lies in Meridiani Planum, an equatorial plain that occupies the Martian northern and southern hemispheres.

Detail of Margaritifer Sinus (Mars Chart 19; MC-19) quadrangle shows Airy Crater and northwestern neighbor Zarand Crater as Meridiani Planum occupants: U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Team, Public Domain, via IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) / USGS Astrogeology Science Center

The Red Planet’s Airy Crater lies in Meridiani Planum, a plain sited in the equatorial latitudes of the Martian northern and southern hemispheres.

Airy Crater is centered at minus 5.14 degrees south latitude, 0.05 degrees east longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The southern hemisphere impact crater finds its northernmost and southernmost latitudes at minus 4.77 degrees south and minus 5.5 degrees south, respectively. It sets its easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 0.42 degrees east and minus 0.31 degrees west, respectively. Airy Crater’s diameter measures 83.17 kilometers.

Airy Crater parents Airy-0 as the Airy Crater system’s sole satellite. Airy-0 shelters to the northwest of the midpoint of its parent’s interior floor.

Airy-0 is centered at minus 5.07 degrees south latitude, 0 degrees east longitude. The satellite confines its northernmost and southernmost latitudes to minus 5.07 degrees south and minus 5.08 degrees south, respectively. It limits its easternmost and westernmost longitudes to 0.01 degrees east and minus 0.01 degrees west, respectively. Airy-0 has a diameter of 0.79 kilometers.

Airy Crater resides in the southern reaches of Meridiani Planum. The European Space Agency website situates Meridiani Planum at the northern edge of the Martian southern highlands. The dark feature occupies a position midway between the low-lying vastness of the Hellas Basin, to the plain’s southeast, and the volcanic vastness of the Tharsis region, to the west of Meridiani Planum.

Meridiani Planum is centered at minus 0.04 degrees south latitude, 356.86 degrees east longitude. The equatorial plain’s northernmost and southernmost latitudes reach 8.78 degrees north and minus 4 degrees south, respectively. The dark plain’s easternmost and westernmost longitudes extend to 7 degrees east and 349.1 degrees east, respectively. At its longest extent, Meridiani Planum spans 1,058.53 kilometers.

Beer Crater and Mädler Crater occur as southern neighbors of Airy Crater on Meridiani Planum. Beer Crater lies to the southwest of Airy Crater in the southwestern Meridiani Planum. Mädler Crater lies to the southeast of Airy Crater.

Beer Crater is centered at minus 14.47 degrees south latitude, 351.83 degrees east longitude. The southern hemisphere crater marks its northernmost and southernmost latitudes at minus 13.75 degrees south and minus 15.19 degrees south, respectively. It obtains its easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 352.58 degrees east and 351.09 degrees east, respectively. Beer Crater’s diameter measures 85.5 kilometers.

Mädler Crater is centered at minus 10.65 degrees south latitude, 2.77 degrees east longitude. The southern hemisphere crater establishes its northernmost and southernmost latitudes at minus 9.61 degrees south and minus 11.7 degrees south, respectively. It posts easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 3.83 degrees east and 1.7 degrees east, respectively. Mädler Crater’s diameter spans 124.16 kilometers.

Zarand Crater occurs as a northern neighbor of Airy Crater on the southern edge of Meridiani Planum. Zarand is located to the northwest of Airy Crater.

Zarand Crater is centered at minus 3.41 degrees south latitude, 358.5 degrees east longitude. The southern hemisphere crater restricts its northernmost and southernmost latitudes to minus 3.39 degrees south and minus 3.44 degrees south, respectively. The Meridiani Planum crater narrows its easternmost and westernmost longitudes to 358.53 degrees east and 358.48 degrees east, respectively. Zarand Crater has a diameter of 2.78 kilometers.

Airy Crater appears on two of the 30 cartographic quadrangle maps of the Martian surface created by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Astrogeology Science Program. The Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle, numbered as Mars Chart 19 (MC-19) in the series, encompasses 0 to 30 degrees south latitude and 0 to 45 degrees west longitude. The Sinus Sabaeus (Mars Chart 20; MC-20) quadrangle covers 0 degrees to 30 degrees south latitude and 0 degrees to 45 degrees east longitude.

Airy Crater honors British astronomer Sir George Biddell Airy (July 27, 1801-Jan. 2, 1892). Approval of Airy as the Martian impact crater’s official name was granted in 1973. Approval of Airy-0 as the Airy Crater system satellite’s official name was granted in 2003.

The takeaways for Airy Crater’s occupancy of the Red Planet’s Meridiani Planum are that the Martian impact crater parents one satellite, Airy-0, which is found off-center of its parent’s interior floor; that Airy Crater appears on two of the 30 cartographic quadrangles mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey; that Airy Crater’s southern neighbors include Beer Crater and Mädler Crater; and that Zarand Crater occurs as Airy Crater’s northwestern, named neighbor.

Detail of Sinus Sabaeus (Mars Chart 20; MC-20) quadrangle shows Airy Crater and southeastern neighbor Mädler Crater as Meridiani Planum occupants: U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Team, Public Domain, via IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) / USGS Astrogeology Science Center

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Detail of Margaritifer Sinus (Mars Chart 19; MC-19) quadrangle shows Airy Crater and northwestern neighbor Zarand Crater as Meridiani Planum occupants: U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Team, Public Domain, via IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) / USGS Astrogeology Science Center @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/images/mc19_2014.pdf

Detail of Sinus Sabaeus (Mars Chart 20; MC-20) quadrangle shows Airy Crater and southeastern neighbor Mädler Crater as Meridiani Planum occupants: U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Team, Public Domain, via IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) / USGS Astrogeology Science Center @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/images/mc20_2014.pdf

For further information:

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