Bartók is a crater on

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

. Its name was adopted by the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...

(IAU) in 1979. Bartók is named for the Hungarian composer

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...

, who lived from 1881 to 1945. Bartók is the largest crater of the Kuiperian system on Mercury, at 118 km diameter. It is followed by Amaral crater. Within the central peak complex of Bartók is a ''dark spot'' of low reflectance material (LRM).Zhiyong Xiao, Robert G. Strom, David T. Blewett, Paul K. Byrne, Sean C. Solomon, Scott L. Murchie, Ann L. Sprague, Deborah L. Domingue, Jörn Helbert, 2013. ''Dark spots on Mercury: A distinctive low-reflectance material and its relation to hollows''. Journal of Geophysical Research Planets.
doi.org/10.1002/jgre.20115
/ref> Dark spots are associated with hollows. To the northeast of Bartók is the large basin

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

. The crater Vālmiki is to the northwest of Bartók, and

Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...

is to the west.

Views

File:Bartók crater MESSENGER WAC IGF to RGB.jpg, Approximate color image of Bartók at a high sun angle showing that the central peak is much darker than the floor and ejecta of the crater, with some areas that are much brighter File:Bartók crater EW1009290842G.3band.nomap.png, Another color image File:Bartók crater EN0229323911M.jpg, Closer oblique view also at a high sun angle

References

Impact craters on Mercury {{Mercury-planet-stub