Lofn (crater)

Lofn
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Lofn and surrounding regions
Feature typeImpact crater
LocationCallisto
Coordinates56°30′S 22°18′W / 56.50°S 22.30°W / -56.50; -22.30[1]
Depth~0.6 km[2]
EponymLofn

Lofn is a large and relatively young impact crater on Jupiter's Galilean satellite Callisto. It was identified in 1997 and named after the goddess of marriage in Norse mythology. Located near the south pole of this moon, Lofn is classified as a flat floored or anomalous dome impact crater. It is superimposed on Adlinda multilayer structure obscuring about 30 percent of it. Another multi-ring structure—Heimdall is found to the south-west of Lofn.

Geologically Lofn is divided into a number of zones including the flat central floor zone, ring of massifs around it and the outer rings of bright and dark impact ejecta. Lofn was probably formed by an oblique impactor coming from the north-west. The relative shallowness of it is explained by either fragmentation of the impactor prior to the contact with the surface or by the post impact relaxation of Callisto's ductile crust.

  1. ^ "Lofn". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program. (Center Latitude: -56.50°, Center Longitude: 22.30°; Planetographic, +West)
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Moore2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).