Kuiper quadrangle

Kuiper quadrangle as mapped by the MESSENGER spacecraft (2021)
Mariner 10 photomosaic (1975)
Approximate color image of southwestern part of the quadrangle including Sihtu Planitia and Renoir crater, by MESSENGER
Approximate color image of Dominici crater and Homer crater, at the center of the quadrangle

The Kuiper quadrangle, located in a heavily cratered region of Mercury, includes the young, 55-km-diameter crater Kuiper (11° S., 31.5° ), which has the highest albedo recorded on the planet,[1] and the small crater Hun Kal (0.6° S., 20.0° ), which is the principal reference point for Mercurian longitude (Davies and Batson, 1975). Impact craters and basins, their numerous secondary craters, and heavily to lightly cratered plains are the characteristic landforms of the region. At least six multiringed basins ranging from 150 km to 440 km in diameter are present. Inasmuch as multiringed basins occur widely on that part of Mercury photographed by Mariner 10, as well as on the Moon and Mars, they offer a potentially valuable basis for comparison between these planetary bodies.

Beethoven quadrangle is to the west of Kuiper quadrangle, and Derain quadrangle is to the east. Victoria quadrangle is to the north, and Discovery quadrangle is to the south.

  1. ^ Hapke, Bruce, Danielson, G. E., Jr., Klaasen, Kenneth, and Wilson, Lionel, 1975, Photometric observations of Mercury from Mariner 10: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 80, no. 17, pp. 2431–2443.