Bartók is a crater on Mercury. Its name was adopted by the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

(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 Hunga ...

, who lived from 1881 to 1945. The crater was first imaged by

Mariner 10 ''Mariner 10'' was an American Robotic spacecraft, robotic space probe launched by NASA on 3 November 1973, to fly by the planets Mercury (planet), Mercury and Venus. It was the first spacecraft to perform flybys of multiple planets. ''Marin ...

in 1974. 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. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

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

Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works " The Nose", " Viy", "The Overcoat", and " Nevsky Prosp ...

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