Impact craters across the solar system (IMAGE)

University of Arizona

Impact craters across the solar system

Caption

Impact craters on planets share common shapes across vastly different worlds in the solar system, according to Jeffrey Andrews-Hanna. The South Pole-Aitken basin on the moon described in this study (left), the Hellas basin on Mars (center) and the Sputnik basin on Pluto (right) all formed in oblique impacts. Their outlines get narrower in the down-range direction (bottom) like a raindrop or an avocado. Elevations range from low (blue) to high (orange).

Credit

Jeff Andrews-Hanna/University of Arizona/NASA

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