&sq=&lang=&file=File:Chao_Meng-Fu_crater_EN1056333848M.jpg) MESSENGER NAC image centered on Chao Meng-Fu. Located near Mercury's south pole, a large portion of the crater is permanently shadowed | |
| Feature type | Impact crater |
|---|---|
| Location | Bach quadrangle, Mercury |
| Coordinates | 87°18′S 132°24′W / 87.3°S 132.4°W |
| Diameter | 167 km (104 mi) |
| Eponym | Zhao Mengfu |
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Illumination_map_of_Mercury%27s_south_pole_Chabot_Fig2.large.png)
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Permanent_shadows_at_Mercury%27s_south_pole_Chabot_Fig3.large.png)
Chao Meng-Fu is a 167 km (104 mi) diameter crater on Mercury named after the Chinese painter and calligrapher Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322). Due to its location near Mercury's south pole (132.4° west, 87.3° south) and the planet's small axial tilt, an estimated 40%[1] of the crater lies in permanent shadow. This combined with bright radar echoes from the location of the crater leads scientists to suspect that it may shelter large quantities of ice protected against sublimation into the near-vacuum by the constant −171 °C (−276 °F) temperatures.
- ^ James Salvail; Fraser Fanale (1994). "Near-surface ice on Mercury and the Moon". Icarus. 111 (2): 441–455. Bibcode:1994Icar..111..441S. doi:10.1006/icar.1994.1155.