Haulani is an
impact crater
An impact crater is a circular depression in the surface of a solid astronomical object formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact craters ...
located on
Ceres
Ceres most commonly refers to:
* Ceres (dwarf planet), the largest asteroid
* Ceres (mythology), the Roman goddess of agriculture
Ceres may also refer to:
Places
Brazil
* Ceres, Goiás, Brazil
* Ceres Microregion, in north-central Goiás ...
that contains "Spot 1", one of the
bright spots observed by the
Dawn spacecraft
''Dawn'' is a retired space probe that was launched by NASA in September 2007 with the mission of studying two of the three known protoplanets of the asteroid belt: Vesta and Ceres. In the fulfillment of that mission—the ninth in NASA's Dis ...
. The crater was named after
Haulani, the Hawaiian goddess of plants.
In July 2018, NASA released a comparison of physical features, including Haulani crater, found on Ceres with similar ones present on Earth.
Haulani is one of the youngest craters on Ceres, estimated to have been formed between 1.7 and 5.9 Myr (million years) ago,
[ and as such has numerous unique geological features, with much evidence of tectonic activity.] The crater is internally divided between its east, which lies on a raised plateau, and its west, which is of a low altitude.
See also
*List of geological features on Ceres
Ceres is a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt that lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The IAU has adopted two themes for naming surface features on Ceres: agricultural deities for craters and agricultural festivals for everything else.
...
References
Impact craters on asteroids
Surface features of Ceres
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