How It Works

Amazing impression craters

by · 29/03/2013

Linné CraterLinné_crater_moon
Location: Moon
The Moon is a great place to study impact craters as there is no weather to erode them, leaving them preserved for millions of years. The Linné Crater is also relatively young and this means it has not been damaged by further impacts.

 

 
Spider CraterNASA 694018
Location: Earth
Before life emerged, Earth’s surface was as cratered as the Moon’s. Today, however, our atmosphere, liquid water and tectonic activity have all eroded and reshaped the surface. For hundreds of millions of years the Spider Crater in Western Australia has been worn away except for the harder leg-like layers made of sandstone.

 

CREDIT NASA 705952main_happy_crater_full_full
Happy Little Crater
Location: Mercury
Smiling away on Mercury is the Happy Little Crater, so-called because the central mounds of this complex feature uncannily resemble a smiley face. It has a diameter of 37 kilometres (23 miles).

 

 

 
Snowman CratersCREDIT NASA, JPL-Caltech, UCLA, MPS, DLR, IDA vesta2_dawn_900
Location: Vesta
One of the biggest asteroids in the Asteroid Belt, Vesta carries many impact formations including three craters – Marcia, Calpurnia and Minucia – which together look a bit like a snowman. For some reason, Vesta’s northern half is more heavily cratered than the southern half.