Galle (Martian crater)

Not to be confused with Gale (Martian crater). This article is about the crater on Mars. For the lunar crater, see Galle (lunar crater).
Galle
Photographed by the Mars Global Surveyor, 1999-03-10
PlanetMars
Coordinates51°12′S 30°54′W / 51.2°S 30.9°W / -51.2; -30.9
QuadrangleArgyre
Diameter230.0 km
EponymJohann Gottfried Galle

Galle is a crater on Mars. It is located on the eastern rim of the huge impact basin Argyre Planitia in Argyre quadrangle. It is named after the German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle.[1] Galle is often known as the "happy face crater" because pareidolia causes a curved mountain range in the southern part of the crater and two smaller mountain clusters further north to appear to be a smiley face. The formation was first photographed by Viking Orbiter 1.

A second "happy face crater", smaller than Galle and located at 45.1°S, 55.0°W in Nereidum Montes, was discovered by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on January 28, 2008.[2]

  1. ^ "Galle". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
  2. ^ Have a happy day on Mars Archived 2010-04-21 at the Wayback Machine, The Planetary Society Blog, Feb. 1, 2008