 | This articlemay containoriginal research. Pleaseimprove it byverifying the claims made and addinginline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed.(October 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Location | Mercury |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 8°N280°W / 8°N 280°W /8; -280 |
| Diameter | 2300 km |
| Eponym | Skinakas observatory |
TheSkinakas basin is the informal name given to a structure onMercury that appeared to be an extremely largeimpact basin. The limited-resolutionMariner 10 images available showed a double-ringed structure, with the inner ring having a diameter of around 1600 km, which would have made it one of the largest impact basins in theSolar System. It appeared to be even larger than theCaloris basin on Mercury, which has been known since theMariner 10 flybys of that planet. The part of the outer ring that was imaged appeared to correspond to a diameter of around 2300 km.[1]
The basin was supposedly centered at about8°N80°E / 8°N 80°E /8; 80[2] and lay on the hemisphere of Mercury that was not imaged byMariner 10. This place is situated near analbedo feature Solitudo Aphrodites (25°N70°E / 25°N 70°E /25; 70).[3] In 2001, it was observed and imaged by ALPO (Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers) members.[citation needed] But it was followed by L. Ksanfomality fromlucky imaging observations in 2004. The informal name is after theSkinakas observatory onCrete where the observations were taken.[1] Despite radar images having a far greater resolution they are not useful for detecting very large impact basins such as this one; for example, the Caloris basin is also not visible in radar.[4]However, careful examination of images byMESSENGER spacecraft showed no evidence of the Skinakas basin.[2]
