Neruda Quadrangle Is 13th of 15 Quadrangles of Mercurian Surface

Summary: Neruda Quadrangle is the 13th of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface and covers middle latitudes longitudinally from 180 to 270 degrees.

A small, younger crater punctuates Neruda Crater's central peaks in an image obtained July 24, 2012, as a high-resolution targeted observation by the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of MESSENGER's Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS); image credit NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Neruda Quadrangle is the 13th 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 180 to 270 degrees west longitude.

As the 13th of Mercury's 15 quadrangles, Neruda Quadrangle has the letter-number designation of H-13 or H13. H signifies Hermes, Greek mythology's equivalent of Roman mythology's Mercurius.

Neruda Quadrangle's provisional name, Solitudo Persephones, references a dark region on Mercury's surface. Greek French astronomer Eugène Michel Antoniadi (March 1, 1870-Feb. 10, 1944) placed Solitudo Persephones in the southern hemisphere's polar latitudes, near 70 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). Solitudo Persephones ("Desert of Persephone") references Persephone (Greek: Περσεφόνη), daughter of Olympian deity King Zeus and Olympian agricultural goddess Demeter. She became Queen of the Underworld through her abduction by Hades, King of the Underworld. She embodied spring in her annual seasonal return to the world of the living. Persephone shared seasonal and underworld associations with Hermes in his roles as herald of spring and guide of the dead.

Prominent local features conventionally inspire the names of Mercury's quadrangles. Neruda Quadrangle's namesake is Michelangelo Crater. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) themes Mercury's craters after names of historically significant artists, authors, musicians and painters. The crater's name, approved April 8, 2008, honors Chile's Nobel Prize-winning poet-diplomat Pablo Neruda, pen name and later legal name of Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto (July 12, 1904-Sept. 23, 1973).

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) noted Neruda Crater's ". . . rugged profile of ups and downs . . ." in the high-resolution targeted observation obtained July 24, 2012, by the The Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging) robotic space probe's Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS). Puncturing of the crater's central peaks by a young, small crater has yielded the jagged profile.

Neruda Crater is centered at minus 52.66 degrees south latitude, 234.21 degrees west longitude, according to the IAU's U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center-maintained Gazetter of Planetary Nomenclature. The southern hemisphere crater records northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 51.35 degrees south and minus 53.97 degrees south, respectively. It registers easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 232.05 degrees west and 236.36 degrees west, respectively. Neruda Crater's diameter measures 112 kilometers.

Neruda Crater is located in southwestern Neruda Quadrangle. The heavily-cratered terrain finds Sher-Gil Crater as Neruda's nearest named northeastern neighbor. The crater's name, approved Nov 20, 2008, honors 20th-century Hungarian-Indian avant-garde female painter Amrita Sher-Gil (Jan. 30, 1913-Dec. 5, 1941).

Sher-Gil Crater is centered at minus 45.26 degrees south latitude, 225.26 degrees west longitude. The southern hemisphere crater posts northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 44.36 degrees south and minus 46.17 degrees south, respectively. It marks its easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 223.97 degrees west and 226.54 degrees west, respectively. Sher-Gil Crater has a diameter of 77 kilometers.

Neruda Crater's other nearest named northern neighbor, Grainger Crater, lies to the northwest. The crater's name, approved Apr 24, 2012, honors Australian-born, later (1918) naturalized American, composer, pianist and British folk music reviver Percy Aldridge Grainger (born George Percy Grainger; July 8, 1882-Feb. 20, 1961).

Grainger Crater is centered at minus 44.09 degrees south latitude, 255.19 degrees west longitude. The southern hemisphere crater establishes northernmost and southernmost latitudes at minus 42.77 degrees south and minus 45.41 degrees south, respectively. It obtains its easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 253.39 degrees west and 256.98 degrees west, respectively. Grainger Crater's diameter measures 113 kilometers.

Crater-dominated Neruda Quadrangle shares borders with five neighbors. Tolstoj (H-8 ) and Eminescu (H-9) quadrangles overlap with Neruda Quadrangle's northern border. Michelangelo Quadrangle (H-12) aligns with Neruda Quadrangle's eastern border. The southern polar region's Bach Quadrangle (H-15) reaches Neruda Quadrangle's southern border. Debussy Quadrangle (H-14) neighbors along Neruda Quadrangle's western border.

The takeaways for Neruda Quadrangle as the 13th of 15 quadrangles of the Mercurian surface are that the crater-dominated quadrangle's namesake, Neruda Crater, resides in southwestern Neruda Quadrangle; that MESSENGER robotic space probe's high-resolution targeted observation of the crater, obtained July 24, 2012, has revealed the jagged interplay of central peaks with a small, superposed crater; and that Neruda Quadrangle's neighborhood comprises northern neighbors Tolstoj and Eminescu quadrangles, eastern neighbor Michelangelo Quadrangle, southern neighbor Bach Quadrangle and western neighbor Debussy Quadrangle.

Detail of Map of the H-13 (Neruda) Quadrangle of Mercury shows the quadrangle's namesake, Neruda Crater, with Grainger and Sher-Gil as nearest named northwestern and northeastern 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:

A small, younger crater punctuates Neruda Crater's central peaks in an image obtained July 24, 2012, as a high-resolution targeted observation by the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of MESSENGER's Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS); image credit NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Neruda_crater_EN0251577944M.jpg; via NASA-JPL Photojournal @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17515

Detail of Map of the H-13 (Neruda) Quadrangle of Mercury shows the quadrangle's namesake, Neruda Crater, with Grainger and Sher-Gil as nearest named northwestern and northeastern 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-13.pdf

For further information:

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