List of largest craters in the Solar System explained

Following are the largest impact craters on various worlds of the Solar System. For a full list of named craters, see List of craters in the Solar System. The ratio column compares the crater diameter with the diameter of the impacted celestial body. The maximum crater diameter is 628% of the body diameter (the circumference along a great circle).

BodyCraterCrater diameterBody diameterRatioclass=unsortableImagesclass=unsortableNotes
MercuryCalorisNaNmilesNaNmiles4,880 km32%
RembrandtNaNmilesNaNmiles15%
VenusMeadNaNmilesNaNmiles12,100 km2%
EarthVredefort250–300 km 12,740 km2%
Chicxulub craterNaN1821.4%Cause or contributor of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event
Sudbury BasinNaNmilesNaNmiles1%
Moon
(moon of Earth)
ProcellarumNaNmilesNaNmiles3,470 km86%Not confirmed as an impact basin.
South Pole–Aitken basinNaNmilesNaNmiles70%
ImbriumNaNmilesNaNmiles33%
MarsNorth Polar Basin10,600 × 8,500 km 6,780 km125–155%Not confirmed as an impact basin
UtopiaNaNmilesNaNmiles50%Largest confirmed impact basin on Mars and in the Solar System
HellasNaNmilesNaNmiles34%Largest visible crater in the Solar System
Isidis~NaNmilesNaNmiles28%Heavily degraded to the northeast
ArgyreNaNmilesNaNmiles25.1%May have an outer ring 2750 km in diameter
Vesta (asteroid)RheasilviaNaNmilesNaNmiles529 km (569 km)90%[1]

See also: List of tallest mountains in the Solar System.

VeneneiaNaNmilesNaNmiles70%Partially obscured by Rheasilvia
(dwarf planet)KerwanNaNmilesNaNmiles[2] 952 km30%Faint shallow crater, below the center of this image.
YalodeNaNmilesNaNmiles28%
Hygiea (asteroid)Serpens434 ± 14 km40%
Ganymede
(moon of Jupiter)
EpigeusNaNmilesNaNmiles5,270 km6.5%
Callisto
(moon of Jupiter)
ValhallaNaNmilesNaNmiles4,820 km7.5%
HeimdallNaNmilesNaNmiles4%(no good images have been taken)
Mimas
(moon of Saturn)
HerschelNaNmilesNaNmiles396 km35%

See also: List of tallest mountains in the Solar System.

Tethys
(moon of Saturn)
OdysseusNaNmilesNaNmiles1,060 km42%
Dione
(moon of Saturn)
EvanderNaNmilesNaNmiles[3] 1,123 km34%
Rhea
(moon of Saturn)
MamaldiNaNmilesNaNmiles[4] 1,530 km31%
TirawaNaNmilesNaNmiles24%
Titan
(moon of Saturn)
MenrvaNaNmilesNaNmiles5,150 km7.5%
Iapetus
(moon of Saturn)
TurgisNaNmilesNaNmiles1,470 km40%
EngelierNaNmilesNaNmiles34%
GerinNaNmilesNaNmiles30%Gerin is overlain by Engelier
FalsaronNaNmilesNaNmiles29%
Titania
(moon of Uranus)
GertrudeNaNmilesNaNmiles1,580 km21%Little of Titania has been imaged, so it may well have larger craters.
Pluto (dwarf planet)Sputnik Planitia basinca. 1,400 × 1,200 km
average: ~1,300 km
2,377 km54.7%Partially infilled by convecting Nitrogen ice, heavily eroded
BurneyNaNmilesNaNmiles12.5%Heavily degraded, difficult to see
Charon
(moon of Pluto)
Dorothyca. NaNmilesNaNmiles1,207 km21%Crater at upper right overlapping Mordor Macula

See also

Notes and References

  1. Rheasilvia and Veneneia are 95% and 75% of the mean diameter of Vesta, 529 km. However, the mean is affected by the craters themselves. They are 89% and 69% the mean equatorial diameter of 569 km.
  2. http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/SearchResults?target=CERES&featureType=Crater,%20craters Planetary Names: Search Results
  3. http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14353?__fsk=-1014050833 USGS
  4. http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14751?__fsk=-1561211533 USGS