Venusian Craters

These views show several examples of impact craters over a large range on Venus. Craters are listed in order of increasing diameter:

• 4 km (6.40N, 272.20E): Note the irregular shape. The dense venusian atmosphere prevents small meteoroids from making it to the surface (there are no craters less than ~2 kilometers in diameter) and causes meteoroids that form the smallest craters to fragment and separate, resulting in a noncircular crater.
• 10 km (0.00N, 142.60E): "Multiple-floored" appearance is due to fragmentation of the incoming meteoroid, causing a crater that looks like buckshot hit the surface.
• 14 km (60.00N, 273.10E, Margit)
• 24 km (1.10N, 284.30E, Sikibu): In comparing Sikibu to Margit, note that the larger crater has a central peak and a flat floor. Also, the ejecta blanket, the material thrown out of the crater, has a petal-like appearance, perhaps because the blanket was emplaced by a debris flow process.
• 38 km (17.40N, 170.40E, Caccini)
• 53 km (66.30N, 125.70E, Zhilova)

Image Credit: Robert Herrick (Lunar and Planetary Institute)

Credit: Lunar and Planetary Institute