Sanai (crater)

{{short description|Crater on Mercury}}

{{Infobox crater data

| title = Sanai

| image = Sanai crater MESSENGER WAC.jpg

| caption = MESSENGER WAC mosaic

| globe = Mercury

| coordinates = {{coord|13.37|S|6.99|W|globe:mercury_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}

| diameter = {{cvt|490|km}}

| eponym = Sanai of Ghazna

}}

Sanai is a large, ancient crater on Mercury. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 2014, after the Persian poet, Sanai of Ghazna.{{cite web |url = http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15246 |title = Sanai |publisher = NASA |work = Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature |accessdate = 18 January 2020}}

The crater, or basin, has prominent radial troughs to the northeast (similar to Imbrium sculpture on the moon), and it is floor is covered with smooth plains. Prior to naming, it was identified as b38.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. It 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.

Hitomaro crater is to the southwest of Sanai, and the crater Dvorák is on its northwest rim.