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This slide and slide 32 show impact craters in a sampling of nearly the entire size range on Venus. Craters are listed in order of increasing diameter. 4 km (6.4°N, 272.2°E): Note the irregular shape. The dense venusian atmosphere prevents small meteoroids from making it to the surface (there are no craters less than ~2 kilometers in diameter) and causes meteoroids that form the smallest craters to fragment and separate, resulting in a noncircular crater. 10 km (0.0°N, 142.6°E): “Multiple-floored” appearance is due to fragmentation of the incoming meteoroid. 14 km (60.0°N, 273.1°E, Margit) 24 km (1.1°N, 284.3°E, Sikibu): In comparing Sikibu to Margit, note that the larger crater has a central peak and a flat floor. Also, the ejecta blanket, the material thrown out of the crater, has a petallike appearance, perhaps because the blanket was emplaced by a debris flow process. 38 km (17.4°N, 170.4°E, Caccini) 53 km (66.3°N, 125.7°E, Zhilova) Click here to view a high-resolution version of the image (830 KB)
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