Lyot (Martian crater)

Lyot Crater

Lyot Crater Dunes, as seen by HiRISE. Click on image to see light toned deposits and dust devil tracks.
Planet Mars
Coordinates 50°48′N 330°42′W / 50.8°N 330.7°W / 50.8; -330.7Coordinates: 50°48′N 330°42′W / 50.8°N 330.7°W / 50.8; -330.7
Eponym Bernard Lyot, French astronomer (1897–1952)

Lyot is a large crater in the Vastitas Borealis region of Mars, located at 50.8° north latitude and 330.7° west longitude within the Ismenius Lacus quadrangle. It is 236 km in diameter and was named after Bernard Lyot, a French astronomer (1897–1952).[1] The name was approved in 1973 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN).[2] Lyot stands out on the flat plains of Vastitas Borealis, which is generally flat and smooth with few large craters.[3] Lyot is the deepest point in Mars's northern hemisphere.[4]

Research published in June 2009 describes evidence for liquid water in Lyot in the past.[5]

Former rivers

Images from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show valleys carved by rivers on the floor of Lyot Crater. Scientists are excited because the rivers seem to have formed more recently than others on Mars; water could have flowed in them only 1.25 million years ago. The source of the water is believed to have been ice from nearby glaciers. The river valleys are over 250 meters wide and tens of kilometers long.[6]

Dust devil tracks

Many areas on Mars, including Lyot, experience the passage of giant dust devils. A thin coating of fine bright dust covers most of the Martian surface. When a dust devil goes by it blows away the coating and exposes the underlying dark surface. These dust devils have been seen from the ground and high overhead from orbit.

Interactive Mars map

Acidalia Planitia Acidalia Planitia Alba Mons Amazonis Planitia Aonia Terra Arabia Terra Arcadia Planitia Arcadia Planitia Argyre Planitia Elysium Mons Elysium Planitia Hellas Planitia Hesperia Planum Isidis Planitia Lucas Planum Lyot (crater) Noachis Terra Olympus Mons Promethei Terra Rudaux (crater) Solis Planum Tempe Terra Terra Cimmeria Terra Sabaea Terra Sirenum Tharsis Montes Utopia Planitia Valles Marineris Vastitas Borealis Vastitas BorealisMap of Mars
Interactive imagemap of the global topography of Mars. Hover your mouse to see the names of over 25 prominent geographic features, and click to link to them. Coloring of the base map indicates relative elevations, based on data from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. Reds and pinks are higher elevation (+3 km to +8 km); yellow is 0 km; greens and blues are lower elevation (down to −8 km). Whites (>+12 km) and browns (>+8 km) are the highest elevations. Axes are latitude and longitude; Poles are not shown.
(also see: Mars Rovers map) (view • discuss)

See also

References

  1. http://www.google.com/mars/
  2. http://plantarynames.wr.usgs.gov
  3. U.S. department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey, Topographic Map of the Eastern Region of Mars M 15M 0/270 2AT, 1991
  4. http://space.com/scienceastronomy/090514--mars-rivers.html
  5. Dickson, J. L., Fassett, C. I., Head, J. W., Amazonian-aged fluvial valley systems in a climatic microenvironment on Mars: Melting of ice deposits on the interior of Lyot Crater, GRL, vol. 36, 2009 http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009GeoRL..3608201D
  6. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090514-mars-rivers.html
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