Dorothy (Charonian crater)

For the venusian crater, see Dorothy (Venusian crater).

Dorothy
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Dorothy is the largest crater on Charon, appearing in the upper-right of this image.
Feature typeCentral-peak impact crater
LocationOz Terra, Charon
Coordinates58°30′N 40°36′E / 58.5°N 40.6°E / 58.5; 40.6[1]
Diameter261 km
Depth6 km
DiscovererNew Horizons
EponymDorothy Gale

Dorothy is the largest known impact basin on Pluto's moon Charon. The crater was discovered by the New Horizons space probe in 2015 during its flyby of Pluto and its moons. It was named after Dorothy Gale from the novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.[1] The crater is located near Charon's north pole, and overlaps the edge of Mordor Macula.

At roughly ~250 km wide, Dorothy is a complex crater with a ~4 km tall central peak. Despite bordering the dark deposits of Mordor Macula, the dark material does not appear to cover the floor of Dorothy, interrupting the roughly circular boundary of Mordor Macula.[2]

  1. ^ a b "Dorothy (Charonian crater)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Schenk2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).