Han Kan (crater)

Han Kan

MESSENGER NAC image of Han Kan, slightly right of center
Feature type	Central-peak impact crater
Location	Bach quadrangle, Mercury
Coordinates	72.13°S 146.40°W / -72.13; -146.40
Diameter	50.0 km (31.1 mi)
Eponym	Han Gan

Han Kan is a crater on Mercury. It has a diameter of 50 kilometers.^[1] Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1985. Han Kan is named for the Chinese painter Han Gan, who lived from 720 to 780.^[2]

On the eastern floor of Han Kan is a dark spot of low reflectance material (LRM), closely associated with hollows.^[3]

Han Kan has an extensive ray system extending for hundreds of kilometers.

• 
  Mariner 10 image with Han Kan at center
• 
  Exaggerated color image by MESSENGER with Han Kan at center
• 
  Han Kan (bottom center), Van Gogh (upper left), and Dickens (right) craters

References

1. Moore, Patrick (2000). The Data Book of Astronomy. Institute of Physics Publishing. ISBN 0-7503-0620-3.
2. "Han Kan". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. NASA. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
3. 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. doi.org/10.1002/jgre.20115