Rustaveli (crater)

{{short description|Crater on Mercury}}

{{Infobox crater data

| title = Rustaveli

| image = Rustaveli crater EW0219266241G.png

| caption = MESSENGER image

| globe = Mercury

| coordinates = {{coord|52.41|N|277.26|W|globe:mercury_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}

| diameter = {{cvt|200.0|km}}

| eponym = Shota Rustaveli

}}

File:Rustaveli crater MESSENGER WAC IGF to RGB.jpg

Rustaveli is a crater on Mercury. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 2012, after the Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli.{{cite web |url = http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14971 |title = Rustaveli |publisher = IAU/NASA/USGS |work = Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature |accessdate = 27 March 2020}}

Rustaveli is one of 110 peak ring basins on Mercury.Chapman, C. R., Baker, D. M. H., Barnouin, O. S., Fassett, C. I., Marchie, S., Merline, W. J., Ostrach, L. R., Prockter, L. M., and Strom, R. G., 2018. Impact Cratering of Mercury. In Mercury: The View After MESSENGER edited by Sean C. Solomon, Larry R. Nittler, and Brian J. Anderson. Cambridge Planetary Science. Chapter 9. The interior has mostly been flooded by impact melt or volcanic deposits.[https://messenger.jhuapl.edu/Explore/Science-Images-Database/gallery-image-598.html Mercury's Smile], published August 5, 2011. NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington.

A confirmed dark spot is present in northern Rustaveli.Zhiyong Xiao, Robert G. Strom, David T. Blewett, Paul K. Byrne, Sean C. Solomon, Scott L. Murchie, Ann L. Sprague, Deborah L. Domingue, Jörn Helbert, 2013. Dark spots on Mercury: A distinctive low-reflectance material and its relation to hollows. Journal of Geophysical Research Planets. [https://doi.org/10.1002/jgre.20115 doi.org/10.1002/jgre.20115] This dark spot is associated with hollows (see below).

To the east of Rustaveli is Kulthum crater. The crater Copland and Nathair Facula are to the southwest.