Public domain
Utopia Planitia Crater
From the collection of NASA Image and Video Library. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This unnamed crater in Utopia Planitia is shaped like a peanut shell, with an indentation in the crater rim at the middle of the crater. It is likely that this crater was created by a dual impact. In a dual (or double) impact the incoming meteor is broken into two or more pieces which impact together into the surface. This type of impact often has a unique ejecta blanket shape, pinched at the center making a butterfly shape, and a pronounced inner rim jutting out at the center.
NASA Image and Video Library’s own descriptionSubjects
Credit lineUtopia Planitia Crater. NASA/JPL, 2023-12-18. Public domain. ID: PIA26261.