Sanai (crater)

Sanai
	MESSENGER WAC mosaic
Planet	Mercury
Coordinates	13°22′S 6°59′W / 13.37°S 6.99°W
Quadrangle	Kuiper
Diameter	490 km (300 mi)
Eponym	Sanai of Ghazna

Sanai is a large, ancient crater on Mercury. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 2014, after the Persian poet, Sanai of Ghazna.^[1]

The crater, or basin, has prominent radial troughs to the northeast (similar to Imbrium sculpture on the moon), and it is floor is covered with smooth plains. Prior to naming, it was identified as b38.^[2] It is Tolstojan in age.^[3]

Hitomaro crater is to the southwest of Sanai, and the crater Dvorák is on its northwest rim.

References

^ "Sanai". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. NASA. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
^ Chapman, C. R., Baker, D. M. H., Barnouin, O. S., Fassett, C. I., Marchie, S., Merline, W. J., Ostrach, L. R., Prockter, L. M., and Strom, R. G., 2018. Impact Cratering of Mercury. In Mercury: The View After MESSENGER edited by Sean C. Solomon, Larry R. Nittler, and Brian J. Anderson. Cambridge Planetary Science. Chapter 9.
^ Denevi, B. W., Ernst, C. M., Prockter, L. M., and Robinson, M. S., 2018. The Geologic History of Mercury. In Mercury: The View After MESSENGER edited by Sean C. Solomon, Larry R. Nittler, and Brian J. Anderson. Cambridge Planetary Science. Chapter 6, Table 6.3.

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[1] "Sanai". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. NASA. Retrieved 18 January 2020.

[2] Chapman, C. R., Baker, D. M. H., Barnouin, O. S., Fassett, C. I., Marchie, S., Merline, W. J., Ostrach, L. R., Prockter, L. M., and Strom, R. G., 2018. Impact Cratering of Mercury. In Mercury: The View After MESSENGER edited by Sean C. Solomon, Larry R. Nittler, and Brian J. Anderson. Cambridge Planetary Science. Chapter 9.

[3] Denevi, B. W., Ernst, C. M., Prockter, L. M., and Robinson, M. S., 2018. The Geologic History of Mercury. In Mercury: The View After MESSENGER edited by Sean C. Solomon, Larry R. Nittler, and Brian J. Anderson. Cambridge Planetary Science. Chapter 6, Table 6.3.

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