IAU descriptor term
Craters in the Solar System
Crater is the term planetary geologists use for a circular depression, almost always an impact scar. 4,787 named features carry it, across 13 of the 14 mapped worlds, the largest being Rembrandt on Mercury at 716 km.
Where they are
The Moonlargest: Hertzsprung, 536 km1,615Marslargest: Huygens, 467 km1,237Venuslargest: Mead, 270 km881Mercurylargest: Rembrandt, 716 km449Callistolargest: Heimdall, 210 km141Ganymedelargest: Epigeus, 343 km129Cereslargest: Kerwan, 280 km115Vestalargest: Rheasilvia, 450 km90Enceladuslargest: Ali Baba, 34.1 km53Europalargest: Taliesin, 50 km41Phoboslargest: Stickney, 9 km17Titanlargest: Menrva, 392 km12Ryugulargest: Urashima, 0.3 km7
The largest craters anywhere
Ranked across every mapped world, by catalogued diameter.
1RembrandtMercury716 km2BeethovenMercury630 km3HertzsprungThe Moon536 km4ApolloThe Moon524 km5SanaiMercury490 km6HuygensMars467 km7AneirinMercury467 km8SchiaparelliMars459 km9GreeleyMars458 km10RheasilviaVesta450 km11DostoevskijMercury430 km12KorolevThe Moon423 km13CassiniMars408 km14AntoniadiMars401 km15VeneneiaVesta400 km16ShakespeareMercury399 km17MenrvaTitan392 km18LorentzThe Moon378 km19DollfusMars363 km20TolstojMercury355 km21PoincareThe Moon346 km22TikhonravovMars344 km23EpigeusGanymede343 km24RaphaelMercury342 km25HarkhebiThe Moon337 km26BirkhoffThe Moon330 km27MendeleevThe Moon325 km28PlanckThe Moon320 km29HomerMercury319 km30GoetheMercury317 km
What they are named after
Naming themes are set per world, so one descriptor can draw on very different sources depending on where it sits. Across all 4,787 craters, 296 categories appear.
American404Germany309France292Russia265Great Britain221United States204Italy179Greek175