What is unique about the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the moon?
What is unique about the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the moon?
What is unique about the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the moon?
The South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin is the largest and oldest recognized impact basin on the moon. It’s diameter is roughly 2,500 km or 1,550 miles. The moon’s circumference is just under 11,000 km, meaning the basin stretches across nearly a quarter of the moon.
What caused the Aitken crater?
Computer simulations of large asteroid impacts suggest that, under the right conditions, an iron-nickel core of an asteroid might be lodged into the upper mantle of the moon (the layer between the moon’s crust and core) during an impact, in this case the impact that created the South Pole-Aitken Basin.
How old is the South Pole-Aitken Basin?
about 4 billion years ago
“The South Pole-Aitken basin — thought to have been created about 4 billion years ago — is the largest preserved crater in the Solar System,” Dr. James said.
How deep is the Aitken crater?
8 miles
Stretching 1,550 miles (2,500 kilometers) wide and 8 miles (13 km) deep, the South Pole-Aitken basin, as the tremendous hole is known to Earthlings, is the oldest and deepest crater on the moon, and one of the largest craters in the entire solar system.
What is the deepest crater on Earth?
Vredefort crater
The Vredefort crater /ˈfrɪərdəfɔːrt/ is the largest verified impact crater on Earth….Vredefort crater.
| Vredefort Dome, seen from space by STS-51-I | |
| Impact crater/structure | |
|---|---|
| Confidence | Confirmed |
| Diameter | 300 km (190 mi) |
| Age | 2,023 ± 4 Ma Orosirian, Paleoproterozoic |
Which is the deepest trench in Moon?
South Pole–Aitken basin
The South Pole–Aitken basin is the largest, deepest and oldest basin recognized on the Moon.
Are there holes on the Moon?
Answer 1: These holes are called craters. Many of them are impact carters which are formed between 3000 and 4000 million years ago when meteorites and asteroids hit the surface of the moon. Some of them are pretty big up to 130 miles in diameter others are only a couple of feet.
Has any country landed on south pole of moon?
Russia (the USSR), Japan, China, the European Space Agency (ESA), and India have all made visits to the moon via probes. India will become the fourth country to have landed on the lunar surface if the lander of its moon mission Chandrayaan-2 lands successfully near its previously unexplored South Pole on Saturday.
What is the Moon’s biggest crater?
The South Pole–Aitken basin (SPA Basin, /ˈeɪtkɪn/) is an immense impact crater on the far side of the Moon. At roughly 2,500 km (1,600 mi) in diameter and between 6.2 and 8.2 km (3.9–5.1 mi) deep, it is one of the largest known impact craters in the Solar System.