 Mariner 10 image of Sobkou Planitia showing the crater pair Degas and Brontë | |
| Location | Shakespeare quadrangle,Mercury |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 39°N128°W / 39°N 128°W /39; -128 |
| Eponym | Egyptian messenger godSobek |
Sobkou Planitia is a large basin on the planetMercury. It is named after the ancientEgyptian messenger deity Sobkou (whose name is more usually transliteratedSobek).[1] He was associated by the Egyptians with the planet Mercury.
Sobkou Planitia was discovered after Sobkou, the basin, was recognized as aPre-Tolstojan basin on images fromMariner 10.[2]
The most prominent features within the plain itself are a pair of craters, similar in size to one another, known asBrontë andDegas. Brontë is the older of the two craters, and the impact that formed Degas has overlapped the edges of that older crater and spread a spray of rays across the southern regions of Sobkou Planitia and beyond.[3]
According to Peter Grego's bookVenus and Mercury and how to observe them Sobkou Planitia is free ofscarps,ridges,fractures andvalleys. Its southeastern edge is bordered by the scarpHeemskerck Rupes which is about 300 km long which along part of the line of a very broad, bright swathe which is 1,000 km long and terminating just to the east ofChŏng Chʼŏl crater.[4]
A gravitational high, also known as amascon, is roughly centered on Sobkou Planitia.[5] Most large impact basins on the moon, such asMare Imbrium andMare Crisium, are the site of mascons.
