Hero Rupes
Rupes on Mercury
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hero Rupes is an escarpment on Mercury more than 300 kilometres (190 miles) long[2] located in the southern hemisphere of Mercury, in the southwestern portion of the Michelangelo quadrangle.[1] Discovered by the Mariner 10 spacecraft in 1974, it was formed by a thrust fault, thought to have occurred due to the shrinkage of the planet's core as it cooled over time.[3]
| |
| Feature type | Rupes |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 58.4°S 171.4°W[1] |
| Length | 300 km[2] |
| Eponym | Hero (sloop)[1] |
The scarp is named after sloop Hero, Nathaniel Palmer's ship used to explore the Antarctic coast, 1820–21.[1]
