Popova (crater)

{{short description|Crater on Mercury}}

{{Infobox crater data

| title = Popova

| image = Popova crater EN0244000660M.jpg

| caption = MESSENGER image

| globe = Mercury

| coordinates = {{coord|34.72|S|66.73|W|globe:mercury_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}

| diameter = {{cvt|34|km}}

| eponym = Lyubov Popova

}}

File:Mariner 10 image 0166651.png image with Popova near center]]

Popova is a crater on Mercury. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 2012, after the Russian painter and designer Lyubov Popova.{{cite web |url = http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15085 |title = Popova |publisher = NASA |work = Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature |accessdate = 14 January 2020}}

The crater has a central peak[https://messenger.jhuapl.edu/Explore/Science-Images-Database/gallery-image-1057.html PRISTINE POPOVA], Release Date: January 4, 2013. NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington. and has a bright ray system that overlies surrounding features and is thus young.

The peak-ring basin Chekhov is to the southeast of Popova, and the flat-floored Unkei is to the northeast.