Vālmiki 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 1976. It is named for the Indian poet

Valmiki Valmiki (; Sanskrit: वाल्मीकि, ) is celebrated as the wikt:harbinger, harbinger-poet in Sanskrit literature. The epic ''Ramayana'', dated variously from the 5th century BCE to first century BCE, is attributed to him, based on ...

. Vālmiki is one of 110 peak ring basins on Mercury.Chapman, C. R., Baker, D. M. H., Barnouin, O. S., Fassett, C. I., Marchie, S., Merline, W. J., Ostrach, L. R., Prockter, L. M., and Strom, R. G., 2018. Impact Cratering of Mercury. In ''Mercury: The View After

MESSENGER ''MESSENGER'' was a NASA robotic space probe that orbited the planet Mercury between 2011 and 2015, studying Mercury's chemical composition, geology, and magnetic field. The name is a backronym for "Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geoche ...

'' edited by Sean C. Solomon, Larry R. Nittler, and Brian J. Anderson. Cambridge Planetary Science. Chapter 9. Vālmiki is located between the ancient, large craters Tolstoj (to the west) and

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 ...

(to the east). To the southwest is Gogol, and to the southeast is Bartók. Vālmiki crater EW1007212291G.jpg, Vālmiki at center with

in the background Tolstoj crater and Basho crater MESSENGER WAC IGF to RGB.jpg, Enhanced color image of Tolstoj crater (top center) and Bashō crater (lower left), with Vālmiki in the right corner.

References

{{Mercury (planet) Impact craters on Mercury