Hals is a crater on Mercury. It has a diameter of 93 kilometers. 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 1985. Hals is named for the Dutch painter

Frans Hals Frans Hals the Elder (, ; ; – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He lived and worked in Haarlem, a city in which the local authority of the day frowned on religious painting in places of worship but citizens liked to decorate thei ...

, who lived from 1581 to 1666. 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. The crater Hawthorne is north of Hals. File:Hals crater EN1036363360M.jpg, Another MESSENGER NAC image File:Hawthorne crater region MESSENGER WAC IGF to RGB.jpg, Approximate color image of the surface of Mercury including Hals crater. The prominent crater at right is Hawthorne, and Hals is south of it. File:Michelangelo crater Hawthorne crater EW1026080636G.jpg, Oblique regional view with Hawthorne right of center and Hals next to it

References

Impact craters on Mercury {{Mercury-planet-stub