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Pahinui (crater)

Coordinates: 28°10′S 213°13′W / 28.16°S 213.21°W / -28.16; -213.21
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Pahinui
MESSENGER image
PlanetMercury
Coordinates28°10′S 213°13′W / 28.16°S 213.21°W / -28.16; -213.21
QuadrangleNeruda
Diameter54 km (34 mi)
EponymGabby Pahinui

Pahinui is a crater on Mercury. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 2016, after the Hawaiian musician, Charles Phillip Kahahawai "Gabby" Pahinui.[1]

There is a rimless, irregular depression in the center of Pahinui, making it a pit-floor crater. Such a feature may have resulted from the collapse of a magma chamber underlying the central part of the crater.[2]

To the west of Pahinui is Coatl Facula, a bright area within an unnamed crater.[3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Pahinui". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. IAU/NASA/USGS. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  2. ^ Gillis-Davis, Jeffrey J.; Blewett, David T.; Gaskell, Robert W.; Denevi, Brett W.; Robinson, Mark S.; Strom, Robert G.; Solomon, Sean C.; Sprague, Ann L. (2009). "Pit-floor craters on Mercury: Evidence of near-surface igneous activity". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 285 (3–4): 243–250. Bibcode:2009E&PSL.285..243G. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2009.05.023.
  3. ^ "Coatl Facula". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. IAU/NASA/USGS. Retrieved 30 August 2023.