PIA00475: Venus - Crater 'Stefania' in N. Sedna Planitia
 Target Name:  Venus
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Magellan
 Spacecraft:  Magellan
 Instrument:  Imaging Radar
 Product Size:  880 x 850 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  JPL
 Producer ID:  P38286
 Addition Date:  1996-11-20
 Primary Data Set:  Magellan MIDRs
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA00475.tif (539 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA00475.jpg (265.2 kB)

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Original Caption Released with Image:

Crater Stephania is located at 51.3 degrees latitude, 333.3 degrees longitude in northern Sedna Planitia on Venus. With a diameter of 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) it is one of the smaller craters on Venus. Because many small meteoroids disintegrate during their passage through the dense atmosphere, there is an absence of craters smaller than 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) in diameter, and even craters smaller than 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) are relatively scarce. The apron of ejected material suggests that the impacting body made contact with the surface from an oblique angle. Upon closer observation it is possible to delineate secondary craters, impact scars from blocks ejected from the primary crater. A feature associated with this and many other Venusian craters is a radar-dark halo. Since dark radar return signifies a smooth surface, it has been hypothesized that an intense shock wave removed or pulverized previously rough surface material or that a blanket of fine material was deposited during or after the impact.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL

Image Addition Date:
1996-11-20