Impact Crater
A bowl-shaped depression blasted out when an asteroid or comet strikes a solid surface. Craters are the most common landform in the Solar System, and their density is used to date surfaces — the more craters, the older the terrain.
In brief
A depression excavated by an impact.
Examples of this feature
- CopernicusSurface featureThe Moon · ≈ 93 km across
A young, prominent lunar impact crater with terraced walls and bright rays of ejecta, a classic example of a complex crater.
- Gale CraterSurface featureMars
A 154 km impact crater with a central mountain (Aeolis Mons / Mount Sharp) of layered sediments. The Curiosity rover has climbed it, reading a history of ancient lakes.
- Occator CraterSurface featureCeres
A crater on the dwarf planet Ceres famous for its bright deposits — salts left behind by briny water that reached the surface, hinting at a subsurface reservoir.
Knowledge connections
- Group includesGale Crater
- Group includesCopernicus
- Group includesOccator Crater
- Group includesTycho
Sources
The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.
- NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.