Debussy Quadrangle Is 14th of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface

Summary: Debussy Quadrangle is the 14th of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface and covers middle latitudes longitudinally from 270 to 360 degrees.

Lying southeast of bright Kuiper Crater (center), then-unnamed Debussy Crater (lower right) dominates Mercurian surface near southeastern limb in image obtained by Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS), at spacecraft altitude of 27,000 kilometers (17,000 miles), during MESSENGER's second Mercury flyby, Oct. 7, 2008; image addition date 2008-10-07; image credit NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA-JPL Photojournal

Debussy Quadrangle is the 14th of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface, and its map covers the Swift Planet's middle latitudes of 21 degrees south to 66 degrees south latitude, from 270 to 360 degrees west longitude.

As the 14th of Mercury's 15 quadrangles, Neruda Quadrangle has the letter-number designation of H-14 or H14. H references Hermes, Greek mythology's equivalent of Roman mythology's Mercurius.

Debussy Quadrangle's provisional name, Cyllene, references a light region on Mercury's surface. Greek French astronomer Eugène Michel Antoniadi (March 1, 1870-Feb. 10, 1944) placed Cyllene in the southern hemisphere's low-to-middle latitudess, between 20 and 50 degrees south latitude, on the map of Mercury's albedo features in his guide, La Planète Mercure, published in 1934 and translated into English by English amateur astronomer Sir Patrick Moore (March 4, 1923-Dec. 9, 2012) in 1974 (figure 5, page 26). Cyllene references Mount Kyllini, or Mount Cyllene (Ancient Greek: Κυλλήνη), where Hermes was born in a sacred cave.

Prominent local features conventionally inspire the names of Mercury's quadrangles. Debussy Quadrangle's namesake is Debussy Crater. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) draws upon names of historically significant artists, authors, musicians and painters for Mercury's craters. The crater's name, approved Mar 3, 2010, honors Claude Debussy (born Achille-Claude Debussy; Aug. 22, 1862-March 25, 1918).

Debussy Crater is centered at minus 33.95 degrees south latitude, 347.46 degrees west longitude, according to the IAU's U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center-maintained Gazetter of Planetary Nomenclature. The southern hemisphere crater registers northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 33 degrees south and minus 34.9 degrees south, respectively. It records easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 346.31 degrees west and 348.61 degrees west, respectively. Debussy Crater has a diameter of 81 kilometers.

Debussy Crater resides in northwestern Debussy Quadrangle. During MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging) robotic space probe's Mercury flyby of Oct. 6, 2008, the Mercury Dual Imaging System's (MDIS) Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) obtained a close, detailed image of the ". . . bright crater with an extensive system of impact ejecta rays . . ." from a spacecraft altitude of 20,600 kilometers (12,800 miles), according to the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) online Photojournal post, "'A' Spectacular Rayed Crater," on Oct. 20, 2008. The NASA field center's post noted that California's Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex (GDSCC), known commonly as Goldstone Observatory, detected feature A (Debussy Crater's unofficial name) in 1969 as a "bright feature" in radar images at the 12.5-centimeter wavelength. Later images obtained by the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC), known as Arecibo Observatory, in northern coastal Puerto Rico revealed feature A as a crater with a fresh rayed, roughly surfaced system.

Debussy Crater's nearest named northern neighbor, Aneirin Crater, lies to the northwest, near the quadrangle's northwestern edge. Western Aneirin Crater extends into the northeastern corner of Debussy Quadrangle's western neighbor, Discovery Quadrangle. Aneirin Crater's name, approved Jun 23, 2014, honors medieval Brythonic (British Celtic) war poet Aneirin, who flourished in the sixth century CE.

Aneirin Crater is centered at minus 27.47 degrees south latitude, 2.68 degrees west longitude. The southern hemisphere crater obtains northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 22.59 degrees south and minus 32.34 degrees south, respectively. It finds its easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 356.51 degrees west and 8.85 degrees west, respectively. Aneirin Crater's diameter spans 467 kilometers.

Debussy Crater's nearest named southern neighbor, Joplin Crater, lies to the southeast. The crater's name, approved Dec 19, 2012, honors the King of Ragtime, American composer and pianist Scott Joplin (Nov. 24, 1868-April 1, 1917).

Joplin Crater is centered at minus 38.56 degrees south latitude, 334.49 degrees west longitude. The southern hemisphere crater posts northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 37 and minus 40.12 degrees south, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes are met at 332.41 degrees west and 336.57 degrees west, respectively. Joplin Crater's diameter measures 139 kilometers.

Debussy Quadrangle shares borders with five neighbors. Eminescu (H-9 ) and Derain (H-10) neighbor along Debussy Quadrangle's northern border. Neruda Quadrangle (H-13) shares Debussy Quadrangle's eastern border. The southern polar region's Bach Quadrangle neighbors to the south of Debussy Quadrangle. Discovery Quadrangle (H-11) abuts Debussy Quadrangle's western border.

The takeaways for Debussy Quadrangle as the 14th of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface are that the southern middle-latitude quadrangle's namesake, Debussy Crater, honors French composer Claude Debussy; that Debussy Crater's brightly rayed system dominates northwestern Debussy Quadrangle; and that the quadrangle's five neighbors comprise Eminescu and Derain quadrangles to the north, Neruda Quadrangle to the east, Bach Quadrangle to the south and Discovery Quadrangle to the west.

Detail of Map of the H-14 (Debussy) Quadrangle of Mercury shows the quadrangle's namesake, Debussy Crater, with Aneirin and Joplin as nearest named northwestern and southeastern neighbors, respectively; 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:

Lying southeast of bright Kuiper Crater (center), then-unnamed Debussy Crater (lower right) dominates Mercurian surface near southeastern limb in image obtained by Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS), at spacecraft altitude of 27,000 kilometers (17,000 miles), during MESSENGER's second Mercury flyby, Oct. 7, 2008; image addition date 2008-10-07; image credit NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA-JPL Photojournal @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11245; Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CW0131775256F_Kuiper_Crater.png; via The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging) @ https://messenger.jhuapl.edu/Explore/Science-Images-Database/gallery-image-214.html

Detail of Map of the H-14 (Debussy) Quadrangle of Mercury shows the quadrangle's namesake, Debussy Crater, with Aneirin and Joplin as nearest named northwestern and southeastern neighbors, respectively; 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-14.pdf

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