Borealis Quadrangle Is First of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface

Summary: Borealis Quadrangle is the first of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface and covers Mercury's north polar area through 65 degrees north latitude.

Incomplete map of Borealis Region presents area of north polar region illuminated during the Mariner 10 robotic space probe's three Mercury flybys (March 29, 1974; Sept. 21, 1974; March 16, 1975); Geologic Map of the Borealis Region of Mercury (1984) by Maurice J. Grolier and Joseph M. Boyce, prepared on behalf of the Planetary Geology Program, Planetary Division, Office of Space Science, National Aeronautics and Space Administration: courtesy of U.S. Geological Service Astrogeology Science Center's data portal, Astropedia

Borealis Quadrangle is the first of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface, and its map covers the Swift Planet's northern polar region, from the north pole southward to 65 degrees north latitude.

For mapping purposes, Mercury's surface is divided into 15 quadrangles. Each quadrangle has two designations. A letter-number identifier combines H for Hermes, Greek mythology's equivalent of Roman mythology's Mercury, with a number from 1 to 15. Borealis Quadrangle bears the designation of H-1 or H01.

The quadrangle's name associates with one of the area's notable features. According to geologists Maurice Grolier and Joseph Boyce's Geologic Map of the Borealis Region, published in 1984, Goethe, the north polar region's provisional name, references Goethe Basin, described by Grolier and Boyce as "a large, circular depression." The provisional name eponymized German literary genius Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Aug. 28, 1749-March 22, 1832).

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has established the convention of naming Mercury's craters after historically significant artists, authors, musicians and painters. The IAU approved Goethe in 1979, during the international association's XVIIth (17th) General Assembly, held in Montreal, Canada, from Tuesday, Aug. 14, to Thursday, Aug. 23.

Goethe Crater is centered at 81.1 degrees north latitude, 51.03 degrees west longitude, according to the IAU's USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) Astrogeology Science Center-maintained online database, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. It registers northernmost and southernmost latitudes of 84.79 degrees north and 77.41 degrees north, respectively. It records easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 26.45 degrees west and 75.61 degrees west, respectively. Goethe's diameter measures 317.17 kilometers.

The IAU adopted Borealis as the region's official name in 1976. The quadrangle's namesake is Borealis Planitia (Northern Plain). The IAU convention calls for designating planitiae (Latin: "plains") with names of Mercury, as god or planet, in various languages. Of the seven planitiae approved in 1976, Borealis Planitia and Caloris Planitia (Hot Plain) emerge as the only two exceptions to the convention.

Borealis Planitia is centered at 67.3 degrees north latitude, 327.4 degrees west longitude, according to the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The north polar plain's northernmost and southernmost latitudes stretch from 86.9 degrees north to 29.5 degrees north, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes extend from 225.4 degrees west to 134.6 degrees west, respectively. Borealis Planitia's diameter spans 3,450 kilometers.

Tryggvadóttir Crater's northern rim touches Mercury's North Pole. In NASA's online Nov. 29, 2012, image feature, "Permanently Shadowed Polar Craters," Tryggvadóttir numbers among permanently shadowed, north polar craters hosting radar-bright deposits in a graphic presented in "Permanently Shadowed Polar Craters," NASA's online image feature for Nov. 29, 2012. The colorful red-and-yellow graphic is based upon Earth-based radar images and a mosaic of images obtained during the primary data collection mission of NASA's MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging), April 4, 2011, to March 17, 2012. The graphic's redness represents areas that are shadowed in all of the region's MESSENGER images. Red areas intensively characterize the north polar region from the north polar to 85 degrees north latitude. Yellow areas signify Earth-based radar-identified bright deposits. Tryggvadóttir Crater, neighbors Chesterton and Tolkien craters and nearby Kandinsky Crater all appear as golden landmarks surrounded by red terrain.

The IAU approved the north pole's crater Aug. 20, 2012, during the organization's XXVIIIth (28th) General Assembly, held in Beijing, China, from Monday, Aug. 20, to Friday. Aug. 31. The crater honors Icelandic abstract expressionist artist Nína Tryggvadóttir (March 16, 1913-June 18, 1968), born Jónína Tryggvadóttir.

Tryggvadóttir Crater is centered at 89.55 degrees north latitude, 171.56 degrees west longitude. It posts northernmost and southernmost latitudes of 89.92 degrees north and 89.18 degrees north, respectively. It marks its easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 116.53 degrees west and 226.58 degrees west, respectively. Tryggvadóttir Crater has a diameter of 31 kilometers.

In their 1984 geologic map, Grolier and Boyce described the Borealis region as comprising intercrater plains material, intermediate plains material and smooth plains material. They recognized the intercrater plains material as the Borealis region's "oldest recognizable map unit" and characterized this material as densely dominated by superposed, usually shallowly elongated craters with diameters of 5 to 10 kilometers. The Borealis quadrangle's intermediate plains material offer a transition between intercrater plains material's crater density and smooth plains material's small, bright-halo craters.

Four northern midlatitude quadrangles shares their northern borders with Borealis Quadrangle's southern border. Victoria Quadrangle, Shakespeare Quadrangle, Raditladi Quadrangle and Hokusai Quadrangle are mapped as Borealis Quadrangle's southern neighbors.

The takeaways for Borealis Quadrangle as the first of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface are that the Swift Planet's northernmost quadrangle has the letter-number designator of H-01, with H representing Hermes, Greek mythology's Olympian equivalent of Roman mythology's Mercury; that Borealis Quadrangle's namesake is the area's dominant feature, Borealis Planitia (Northern Plain); that Borealis Planitia joins Caloris Planitia (Hot Plain) as the only two exceptions to the International Astronomical Union's convention of naming plains after names for Mercury, as god or planet, in various languages; that Tryggvadóttir Crater, whose northern rim marks Mercury's north pole, honors 20th-century Icelandic abstract expressionist artist Nína Tryggvadóttir; and that intercrater plains material, transitional intermediate plains material and smooth plains material characterize Borealis Quadrangle's stratigraphy.

Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> Map of the H-1 (Borealis) Quadrangle of Mercury; credit NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington/USGS: courtesy IAU/USGS Astrogeology Science Center's Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Incomplete map of Borealis Region presents area of north polar region illuminated during the Mariner 10 robotic space probe's three Mercury flybys (March 29, 1974; Sept. 21, 1974; March 16, 1975); Geologic Map of the Borealis Region of Mercury (1984) by Maurice J. Grolier and Joseph M. Boyce, prepared on behalf of the Planetary Geology Program, Planetary Division, Office of Space Science, National Aeronautics and Space Administration: courtesy of U.S. Geological Service Astrogeology Science Center's data portal, Astropedia, @ https://astrogeology.usgs.gov/search/map/Mercury/Geology/Mercury-Geologic-Map-of-the-Borealis-Region and U.S. Geological Service's Publications Warehouse @ https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/i1660

Map of the H-1 (Borealis) Quadrangle of Mercury; credit NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington/USGS: courtesy IAU/USGS Astrogeology Science Center's Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/images/H-1.pdf

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