Kuiper Quadrangle Is Sixth of 15 Quadrangles of the Mercurian Surface

Summary: Kuiper Quadrangle is the sixth of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface and covers equatorial and low latitudes longitudinally from 0 to 72 degrees..

Map of Kuiper Quadrangle shows area of northern midlatitude illuminated during the Mariner 10 robotic space probe's three Mercury flybys (March 29, 1974; Sept. 21, 1974; march 16, 1975), with easternmost 10 degrees beyond the evening terminator; Geologic Map of the Kuiper Quadrangle of Mercury by (1981) by R.A. De Hon, D.H. Scott and J.R. Underwood Jr, prepared on behalf of the Planetary Geology Program, Planetary Division, Office of Space Science, National Aeronautics and Space Administration: via USGS Publications Warehouse

Kuiper Quadrangle is the sixth of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface and references the Swift Planet's equatorial and low latitudes of 22 degrees south to 22 degrees north latitude, from 0 to 72 degrees west longitude.

As the sixth of Mercury's 15 quadrangles, Kuiper Quadrangle has the letter-number designation of H-6 or H06. H denotes Hermes, Greek mythology's equivalent of Roman mythology's Mercurius.

Kuiper Quadrangle's provisional name, Tricrena, derives from a northern equatorial albedo, or reflective, feature on Mercury's surface. Tricrena (Ancient Greek Τρίκρηνα, "Three Springs") references montane springs sacred to Hermes as the place in which nymphs washed him after his birth. The Tricrena Mountains were located at Pheneus, an ancient town in northeastern Arcadia, central Peloponnese, southern Greece.

Prominent local features conventionally inspire the names of Mercury's quadrangles. Kuiper Quadrangle's namesake is Kuiper Crater. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved the crater's name in 1976 as an exception to the convention of theming Mercury's craters around historically significant artists, authors, musicians and painters. Kuiper Crater honors Dutch American astronomer and planetary scientist Gerard Peter Kuiper (born Gerrit Pieter Kuiper; Dec. 7, 1905-Dec. 23, 1973). The NASA-owned Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) online Photojournal post of Jan. 19, 2000, "Mercury: Photomosaic of the Kuiper Quadrangle H-6," noted Dr. Kuiper's membership on the Mariner 10 Venus/Mercury imaging team and that his death happened ". . . several months before the spacecraft's arrival at Mercury." The Mariner 10 robotic space probe's first flyby of Mercury took place March 29, 1974.

Kuiper Crater is located in central southern Kuiper Quadrangle. In their Geologic Map of the Kuiper Quadrangle of Mercury, published in 1981, geologists Rene A. De Hon, D.H. Scott and James Ross Underwood Jr. recognized Kuiper Crater for "the highest albedo recorded on the planet" and noted its "central peak cluster."

Kuiper Crater is centered at minus 11.34 degrees south latitude, 31.32 degrees west longitude, according to the IAU's U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center-maintained Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The southern hemisphere crater registers northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 10.61 degrees south and minus 12.06 degrees south, respectively. The young crater records easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 30.58 degrees west and 32.06 degrees west, respectively. Kuiper Crater's diameter measures 62 kilometers.

Southern Kuiper Crater overlies the northwestern rim of Murasaki Crater. The IAU approved the crater's name in 1976 in honor of Japanese Heian period novelist, poet and Imperial Court lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu (ca. 1073/1078-ca. 1014/1026).

Murasaki Crater is centered at minus 12.54 degrees south latitude, 30.4 degrees west longitude. It obtains northernmost and southernmost latitudes at minus 10.99 degrees south and minus 14.08 degrees south, respectively. It marks its easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 28.81 degrees west and 32 degrees west, respectively. Murasaki Crater's diameter spans 132 kilometers.

Two of Mercury's three named crater chains, termed catenae (Latin: "chains"), reside in Kuiper Quadrangle. Goldstone Catena's northeast-southwest trend near Murasaki's southwestern rim places the chain of craters to the southwest of Kuiper Crater. Northwest-to-southeast trending Haystack Catena lies across the equator, in Mercury's northern hemisphere, to the northwest of Kuiper Crater.

Goldstone Catena's name was approved Mar 26, 2013, in accordance with the convention of theming catenae around radio telescope facilities. Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex (GDSCC), known as the Goldstone Observatory, is located in the Mohave Desert near Barstow in southeastern California's San Bernardino County. The satellite ground station eponymizes the nearby gold-mining ghost town of Goldstone.

Goldstone Catena is centered at minus 15.62 degrees south latitude, 32.02 degrees west longitude. The southern hemisphere crater chain places its northernmost and southernmost latitudes at minus 14.71 degrees south and minus 16.75 degrees south, respectively. It establishes its easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 31.5 degrees west and 32.73 degrees west, respectively. Goldstone Catena has a diameter of 102 kilometers.

Haystack Catena is centered at 4.42 degrees north latitude, 46.48 degrees west longitude. The northern hemisphere catena's northernmost and southernmost latitudes occur at 6.52 north degrees and 1.91 degrees north, respectively. It posts easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 45.3 degrees west and 47.57 degrees west, respectively. Haystack Catena's diameter of 274 kilometers qualifies it as the larger of Kuiper Quadrangle's two chains of craters.

Kuiper Quadrangle reaches across Mercury's crater to claim Victoria Quadrangle (H-2) as its only northern neighbor. Equator-straddling Derain Quadrangle (H-10) shares Kuiper Quadrangle's eastern border. Discovery Quadrangle (H-11) is contiguous with Kuiper Quadrangle's southern border. Beethoven Quadrangle (H-7) occurs as Kuiper Quadrangle's western neighbor.

The takeaways for Kuiper Quadrangle as the sixth of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface are that the quadrangle's namesake feature, Kuiper Crater, honors Dutch American astronomer and planetary scientist Gerard Kuiper, who was a member of the Mariner 10 Venus/Mercury imaging team; that Kuiper Crater claims Mercury's highest albedo record; that two of Mercury's three crater chains (Latin: catenae) are found in Kuiper Quadrangle; that the equator-straddling quadrangle claims the northern hemisphere's Victoria Quadrangle and the southern hemisphere's Discovery Quadrangle as northern and southern neighbors, respectively; and that equator-straddling Derain and Beethoven quadrangles neighbor along Kuiper Quadrangle's eastern and western borders, respectively.

Detail of Map of the H-6 (Kuiper) Quadrangle of Mercury shows the quadrangle's namesake, Kuiper Crater (lower center), overlying Murasaki Crater, and two of Mercury's three catenae, Goldstone (lower center), southwest of Kuiper Crater, and Haystack (upper left), northwest of Kuiper Crater; 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:

Map of Kuiper Quadrangle shows area of northern midlatitude illuminated during the Mariner 10 robotic space probe's three Mercury flybys (March 29, 1974; Sept. 21, 1974; march 16, 1975), with easternmost 10 degrees beyond the evening terminator; Geologic Map of the Kuiper Quadrangle of Mercury by (1981) by R.A. De Hon, D.H. Scott and J.R. Underwood Jr, prepared on behalf of the Planetary Geology Program, Planetary Division, Office of Space Science, National Aeronautics and Space Administration: via USGS Publications Warehouse @ https://pubs.usgs.gov/imap/1233/plate-1.pdf; courtesy of U.S. Geological Services, via USGS Astrogeology Science Center's data portal, Astropedia, @ https://astrogeology.usgs.gov/search/map/Mercury/Geology/Mercury-Geologic-Map-of-the-Kuiper-Quadrangle

Detail of Map of the H-6 (Kuiper) Quadrangle of Mercury shows the quadrangle's namesake, Kuiper Crater (lower center), overlying Murasaki Crater, and two of Mercury's three catenae, Goldstone (lower center), southwest of Kuiper Crater, and Haystack (upper left), northwest of Kuiper Crater; 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-6.pdf

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