Haystack Catena

{{Short description|Catena on Mercury}}

{{Infobox feature on celestial object

|name = Haystack Catena

|image = File:Haystack Catena EN1018077882M EN1018077884M.jpg

|caption = Oblique MESSENGER NAC mosaic

|type = Catena

|coordinates = {{coord|4.42|N|46.48|W|globe:mercury_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}

|eponym = Haystack Observatory

}}

Haystack Catena is a catena on Mercury. It superficially resembles a graben but is a chain of overlapping secondary craters.[https://astrogeology.usgs.gov/Projects/PlanetaryMapping/DIGGEOL/mercury/h6/h6.pdf H-6 text_all.word] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041102102833/http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/Projects/PlanetaryMapping/DIGGEOL/mercury/h6/h6.pdf |date=November 2, 2004 }} It is named after Haystack Observatory, and was originally named Haystack Vallis when it was imaged by Mariner 10 in 1974, but the name was changed in 2013 to better reflect its origin. It is approximately 274 km long.{{cite web |url = http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15108 |title = Haystack Catena |publisher = IAU/NASA/USGS |work = Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature |access-date = 17 June 2024}} It is located near the center of the Kuiper quadrangle, and it is radial to a large, unnamed crater that is Tolstojan in age.Denevi, B. W., Ernst, C. M., Prockter, L. M., and Robinson, M. S., 2018. The Geologic History of Mercury. In Mercury: The View After MESSENGER edited by Sean C. Solomon, Larry R. Nittler, and Brian J. Anderson. Cambridge Planetary Science. Chapter 6, Table 6.3.

To the southwest of the catena is a large (50 km diameter), unnamed crater of Kuiperian age.Denevi, B. W., Ernst, C. M., Prockter, L. M., and Robinson, M. S., 2018. The Geologic History of Mercury. In Mercury: The View After MESSENGER edited by Sean C. Solomon, Larry R. Nittler, and Brian J. Anderson. Cambridge Planetary Science. Chapter 6, Table 6.4.