Why it matters

Kuiper adds a smaller-scale counterpoint to the giant Caloris basin.

What happenedA bright young Mercury crater, notable for high-reflectance ejecta.
Why it mattersKuiper adds a smaller-scale counterpoint to the giant Caloris basin.
How scientists knowMESSENGER Mission; Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

Measurements and uncertainty

Diámetro62 km
Depthnot listed
Agerelatively young
EstadoConfirmado
Coordinates11.000° S / 31.500° W
Record levelminimal

Seed record: coordinates and diameter support navigation, while geology, age, and visual rights need enrichment.

Perfil científico

Fresh ejecta and crisp morphology make the crater useful for relative surface dating.

Data provenanceMESSENGER Mission; Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

Galería de reconstrucción

Más lecturas visuales del cráter

Si la imagen verificada no basta, la ficha recibe una reconstrucción científica: no fantasía en lugar de dato, sino una hipótesis visual separada de las fuentes.

Paleta del mundoMercurian slate, ash, and sharp light
Fresh Mercury craters often stand out through bright ejecta.
Vista visual actualPlaca base: fuente, material orbital o lámina editorial donde empieza la lectura visual.
Reverse reconstructionmoving from the present trace back to the impact event
Chronological inversionreading the object from future state back through earlier layers
The present as an archive of the futuretreating today's profile as evidence for future analysis

Visual reconstruction

Reverse reconstruction → Chronological inversion → Bidirectional analysis → The present as an archive of the future

Cada ficha necesita una vista previa visual: una imagen existente, una fuente tratada estéticamente o una reconstrucción científica.

Reverse reconstructionmoving from the present trace back to the impact event
Chronological inversionreading the object from future state back through earlier layers
Bidirectional analysischecking past-to-present and present-to-past interpretations
The present as an archive of the futuretreating today's profile as evidence for future analysis

Historia de investigación

The crater is known through Mercury mission data and official planetary nomenclature.

Fuentes

CSVJSONKuiper. Crater.world record. Last reviewed 2026-05-08.
Last reviewed
2026-05-08
Source baseline
MESSENGER Mission; Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature
Uncertainty note
Seed record: coordinates and diameter support navigation, while geology, age, and visual rights need enrichment.
MESSENGER MissionNASA / Johns Hopkins APLGazetteer of Planetary NomenclatureInternational Astronomical Union / USGS

Education mode

Datos

  • Named after astronomer Gerard Kuiper.
  • Young craters help establish the sequence of surface events.
Glossaryejecta, impact melt, breccia, central peak, erosion
Classroom questionWhich evidence separates an impact crater from a volcanic caldera?
CompareCaloris