Veneneia is the second-largest crater on asteroid

4 Vesta Vesta (minor-planet designation: 4 Vesta) is one of the largest objects in the asteroid belt, with a mean diameter of . It was discovered by the German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers on 29 March 1807 and is named after Vesta, the ...

, at 52°S latitude. 'Vesta seems more planet than asteroid'
''Science News'', 2012 Mar 22 in diameter, it is 70% of the equatorial diameter of the asteroid, and one of the largest craters in the Solar System. It is at least 2 billion years old, and possibly as old as 4.2 billion years. However, it is overlain and partially obliterated by the even larger

Rheasilvia Rheasilvia is the most prominent surface feature on the asteroid Vesta and is thought to be an impact crater. It is in diameter, which is 90% the diameter of Vesta itself, and is 95% the mean diameter of Vesta, . However, the mean is affect ...

. It was discovered by the ''Dawn'' spacecraft in 2011. It is named after ''Venēneia'', one of the founding

vestal virgin In ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins or Vestals ( la, Vestālēs, singular ) were priestesses of Vesta, virgin goddess of Rome's sacred hearth and its flame. The Vestals were unlike any other public priesthood. They were chosen before puberty ...

s.Veneneia
''Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature'', 2012 Feb 28 (NASA coordinates) Vesta has a series of troughs in the northern hemisphere concentric to Veneneia. These are believed to be large-scale fractures resulting from the impact. The largest is

Saturnalia Fossa Saturnalia Fossa is the largest of the series of parallel Veneneian troughs in the northern hemisphere of the giant asteroid 4 Vesta. It is estimated to be approx. wide and is at least ; as of early 2012, one end disappeared in shadow and its t ...

, approx. 39 km wide and > 400 km long.

References

Impact craters on asteroids Surface features of 4 Vesta {{crater-stub