Pickering (Martian crater)

Pickering Crater is a crater in the Phaethontis quadrangle on Mars, located at 33.1° south latitude and 132.5° west longitude. It is 115 kilometres (71 mi) in diameter.

Not to be confused with Pickering (lunar crater).

Pickering

Pickering Crater lava flow, as seen by HiRISE. Click on image to see details at edge of flow
Planet	Mars
Region	Phaethontis quadrangle
Coordinates	33.1°S 132.5°W / -33.1; -132.5
Diameter	115 kilometres (71 mi)

Viking Orbiter image with Pickering at right

Lava flow fronts are visible within the crater, and the source of the lava is Arsia Mons. The lava has flowed around the central peak of the crater.[1]

The crater was named after several people: Edward Charles Pickering, American astronomer (1846–1919); his brother William Henry Pickering, American astronomer (1858–1938); and Sir William Hayward Pickering (unrelated), New Zealand-American engineer (1910–2004).[2]

• 
  Western edge of Pickering Crater, as seen by CTX camera (on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter).
• 
  Lava flows on floor of Pickering Crater, as seen by CTX camera (on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter). Lava flowed in crater, and then stopped as it reached higher ground. Note: this is an enlargement of previous image.
• 
  Middle portion of Pickering Crater, as seen by CTX camera (on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter). Arrows indicate edges of lava flows.

See also

• Asteroid 784 Pickeringia
• List of craters on Mars

References

1. NASA SP-441: VIKING ORBITER VIEWS OF MARS, Viking Orbiter Imaging Team, 1980, chapter 5 (Volcanic Features)
2. "Pickering (Martian crater)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.