Feature type | Impact crater |
---|---|
Location | Ceres |
Coordinates | 19°52′N 238°51′E / 19.86°N 238.85°E[1] |
Diameter | 92 kilometres (57 mi) |
Depth | 3 km |
Discoverer | Dawn |
Naming | After Occātor, a helper God of Ceres |
Occator /ɒˈkeɪtər/ is an impact crater located on Ceres, the largest object in the main asteroid belt that lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, that contains "Spot 5", the brightest of the bright spots observed by the Dawn spacecraft. It was known as "Region A" in ground-based images taken by the W. M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea.[2]
The crater was named after Occator, the Roman god of the harrow and a helper to Ceres. The name Occator was officially approved by the IAU on 3 July 2015.[1]
On 9 December 2015, scientists reported that the bright spots on Ceres, including those in Occator, may be related to a type of salt, particularly a form of brine containing magnesium sulfate hexahydrite (MgSO4·6H2O); the spots were also found to be associated with ammonia-rich clays.[3] More recently, on 29 June 2016, scientists reported the bright spot to be mostly sodium carbonate (Na
2CO
3), implying that hydrothermal activity was probably involved in creating the bright spots.[4][5] In August 2020, NASA confirmed that Ceres was a water-rich body with a deep reservoir of brine that percolated to the surface in various locations causing the "bright spots", including those in Occator crater.[6][7] The percolation of brine from a deep internal reservoir to the surface at Occator crater was first modeled in 2019.[8]
A small dome in the center of the crater is 3 km across and about 340 meters height. It is named Cerealia Tholus[9] and is covered by bright salt deposits named Cerealia Facula.[10] The group of thinner salt deposits to the east are named Vinalia Faculae [sic].[11] In July 2018, NASA released a comparison of physical features, including Occator, found on Ceres with similar ones present on Earth.[12]