PIA00480: Venus - Impact Crater 'Isabella
 Target Name:  Venus
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Magellan
 Spacecraft:  Magellan
 Instrument:  Imaging Radar
 Product Size:  5475 x 5341 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  JPL
 Producer ID:  P41056
 Addition Date:  1996-11-26
 Primary Data Set:  Magellan MIDRs
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA00480.tif (24.35 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA00480.jpg (7.659 MB)

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

Crater Isabella, with a diameter of 175 kilometers (108 miles), seen in this Magellan radar image, is the second largest impact crater on Venus. The feature is named in honor of the 15th Century queen of Spain, Isabella of Castile. Located at 30 degrees south latitude, 204 degrees east longitude, the crater has two extensive flow-like structures extending to the south and to the southeast. The end of the southern flow partially surrounds a pre-existing 40 kilometer (25 mile) circular volcanic shield. The southeastern flow shows a complex pattern of channels and flow lobes, and is overlain at its southeastern tip by deposits from a later 20 kilometer (12 mile) diameter impact crater, Cohn (for Carola Cohn, Australian artist, 1892-1964). The extensive flows, unique to Venusian impact craters, are a continuing subject of study for a number of planetary scientists. It is thought that the flows may consist of 'impact melt,' rock melted by the intense heat released in the impact explosion. An alternate hypothesis invokes 'debris flows,' which may consist of clouds of hot gases and both melted and solid rock fragments that race across the landscape during the impact event. That type of emplacement process is similar to that which occurs in violent eruptions on Earth, such as the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL

Image Addition Date:
1996-11-26