Carolan (crater) explained

Carolan
Location:	Borealis quadrangle, Mercury
Type:	Impact crater
Coordinates:	83.88°N 31.77°W
Eponym:	Turlough O'Carolan

Carolan is a crater on Mercury. Its name was suggested by an Irishman, Fergal Donnelly, and two Americans, Joseph Brusseau and Deane Morrison, in a naming contest which was eventually adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) on 2015.^[1] Carolan is named for the Irish composer and performer Turlough O'Carolan, who lived from 1670 to 1738 C.E.^[2] The craters Kulthum, Enheduanna, Karsh, and Rivera were also named as part of the contest.

S band radar data from the Arecibo Observatory collected between 1999 and 2005 indicates a radar-bright area along the southern interior of Carolan, which is probably indicative of a water ice deposit, and lies within the permanently shadowed part of the crater.^[3] MESSENGER's Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) was used to measure surface reflectance of the surface of the planet, and the radar-bright material is covered by low-reflectance material.^[4]

Carolan lies to the southwest of the large crater Prokofiev.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Mercury Crater-naming Contest Winners Announced . www.iau.org.
2. Web site: Planetary Names: Crater, craters: Carolan on Mercury . planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov . 28 August 2019.
3. Chabot, N. L., D. J. Lawrence, G. A. Neumann, W. C. Feldman, and D. A. Paige, 2018. Mercury's Polar Deposits. In Mercury: The View After MESSENGER edited by Sean C. Solomon, Larry R. Nittler, and Brian J. Anderson. Cambridge Planetary Science. Chapter 13, Figure 13.2.
4. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2017GL074723 New evidence for surface water ice in small-scale cold traps and in three large craters at the north polar region of Mercury from the Mercury Laser Altimeter