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Schmidt Crater is an impact crater in the Mare Australe quadrangle of Mars, located at 72.3°S latitude and 78.1°W longitude. It is 212.5 km in diameter and was named after J. F. Julius Schmidt and Otto Schmidt, and the name was approved in 1973 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN).
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Why craters are important
The density of impact craters is used to determine the surface ages of Mars and other solar system bodies. The older the surface, the more craters present. Crater shapes can reveal the presence of ground ice.
Recommended reading
References
Schmidt (Martian crater) Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA