Utopia, the largest recognized impact basin on Mars and in the Solar System with an estimated diameter of 3,300 km (2,100 mi).

It is the Martian region where the Viking 2 lander touched down and began exploring on September 3, 1976.

Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

by Busy_Yesterday9455

5 Comments

  1. Busy_Yesterday9455 on

    The Utopia basin is estimated to have formed around 4.3-4.1 billion years ago.

    The impactor was likely around 400–700 kilometres (250–430 mi) in diameter.

  2. THE_ATHEOS_ONE on

    Little old Mars really is punching above its weight.

    Biggest volcano, biggest impact basin.

    What other titles does the little guy have?

  3. monkeysforehead on

    Just for clarification: the craters you see here are not themselves the Utopia basin. These are smaller impact craters (the top one being about 15km in diameter) within Utopia Planitia. There are lots of interesting ice-related landforms in this image, including mantled deposits around the crater ejecta blankets and “brain terrain” in the craters themselves.