Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection
Title:
Khensu Crater on Ganymede
Original Caption Released with Image:
The dark-floored crater, Khensu, is the target of this image of Ganymede. The solid state imaging camera on NASA's Galileo spacecraft imaged this region as it passed Ganymede during its second orbit through the Jovian system. Khensu is located at 2 degrees latitude and 153 degrees longitude in a region of bright terrain known as Uruk Sulcus, and is about 13 kilometers (8 miles) in diameter. Like some other craters on Ganymede, it possesses an unusually dark floor and a bright ejecta blanket. The dark component may be residual material from the impactor that formed the crater. Another possibility is that the impactor may have punched through the bright surface to reveal a dark layer beneath.

Another large crater named El is partly visible in the top-right corner of the image. This crater is 54 kilometers (34 miles) in diameter and has a small "pit" in its center. Craters with such a "central pit" are common across Ganymede and are especially intriguing since they may reveal secrets about the structure of the satellite's shallow subsurface.

North is to the top-left of the picture and the sun illuminates the surface from nearly overhead. The image covers an area about 100 kilometers (62 miles) by 86 kilometers (54 miles) across at a resolution of 111 meters (370 feet) per picture element. The image was taken on September 6, 1996 by the solid state imaging (CCD) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an operating division of California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.n asa.gov.
Addition Date:
1997-11-26
Produced By:
Brown University
Mission:
Galileo
Spacecraft:
Galileo Orbiter
Target Name:
Ganymede
Is a satellite of:
Jupiter
Instrument:
Solid-State Imaging
Product Size:
620 samples x 540 lines
Primary Data Set:
Galileo EDRs
Producer ID:
P49751
MRPS85707
facet_what:
Sun
facet_what:
Crater
facet_what:
Jupiter
facet_what:
Galileo
facet_what:
Galileo Orbiter
facet_what:
Solid-State Imaging
facet_what:
Ganymede
facet_what:
Impactor
facet_what:
Ganymede (Jupiter Moon)
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
facet_where:
Jupiter
facet_where:
California
facet_where:
Washington
facet_where:
Ganymede
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_when:
September 6, 1996
facet_when_year:
1996
Image #:
PIA01090
UID:
SPD-PHOTJ-PIA01090
orignial url:

Khensu Crater on Ganymede