Sizing up the planets

Meszaros, S. P.
Referencia bibliográfica

Sky and Telescope (ISSN 0037-6604), vol. 69, May 1985, p. 404, 405.

Fecha de publicación:
5
1985
Número de autores
1
Número de autores del IAC
0
Número de citas
0
Número de citas referidas
0
Descripción
Visual, scaled comparisons are made among prominent volcanic, tectonic, crater and impact basin features photographed on various planets and moons in the solar system. The volcanic formation Olympus Mons, on Mars, is 27 km tall, while Io volcanic plumes reach 200-300 km altitude. Valles Marineris, a tectonic fault on Mars, is several thousand kilometers long, and the Ithasa Chasma on the Saturnian moon Tethys extends two-thirds the circumference of the moon. Craters on the Saturnian moons Tethys and Mimas are large enough to suggest a collision by objects which almost shattered the planetoids. Large meteorite impacts may leave large impact basins or merely ripples, such as found on Callisto, whose icy surface could not support high mountains formed by giant body impacts.