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Patera (planetary nomenclature)
Irregular type of crater / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Patera /ˈpætərə/ PAT-ər-ə[1] (plural: paterae /ˈpætəri/ PAT-ə-ree)[1] is an irregular crater, or a complex crater with scalloped edges on a celestial body. Paterae can have any origin (volcanic, impact or other), although the majority of them were created by volcanism.[2][3][4] The term comes from Latin, where it refers to a shallow bowl used in antique cultures.[5][6]
This term is used in planetary nomenclature: it is a part of the international names of such features. In such names, it is capitalized and stands after the proper given name (e.g., Pillan Patera). Besides that, it can be used as a description term and applied even to unnamed features.[7][8]