Gasa (crater)

Gasa Crater
Gasa Crater, as seen by CTX camera (on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter). Note: Gasa Crater is the smaller crater and the outer and larger crater is Cilaos. It is believed the impact that created Gasa occurred in a debris-covered glacier.
PlanetMars
RegionEridania quadrangle
Coordinates35°41′S 129°17′E / 35.68°S 129.28°E / -35.68; 129.28
QuadrangleEridania
Diameter6.5 km
EponymGasa, Bhutan
Gullies in Gasa Crater. Image reprocessed from HIRISE data

Gasa is an impact rayed crater in the Eridania quadrangle on Mars at 35.68° S and 230.72° W. and is 6.5 km in diameter. Its name was approved in 2009, and it was named after a place in Bhutan.[1] Gullies are evident in the images.[2] It is now believed that the impact that created Gasa happened in a larger crater whose floor was covered with debris-covered glaciers.[3] The larger crater is known as Cilaos, it is located at 35.71° S and 230.52° W. and is 21.4 km in diameter. Its name was approved on 15 August 2016, and it was named after a place in the island of Réunion.[4]

  1. ^ "Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature | Gasa". usgs.gov. International Astronomical Union. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  2. ^ Schon, S. and J. Head. 2011. OBSERVATIONS OF GULLY DEVELOPMENT IN GASA – A RAYED CRATER. 42nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2546.pdf
  3. ^ Schon, S. and J. Head. 2012. Gasa impact crater, Mars: Very young gullies formed from impact into latitude-dependent mantle and debris-covered glacier deposits? Icarus: 218, 459-477.
  4. ^ "Planetary Names: Crater, craters: Cilaos on Mars". usgs.gov. International Astronomical Union. Retrieved 2017-12-08.