PLACES WE LOVE
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
- FROM THE EDGE
One of the most heavily
cratered objects in our
solar system is Jupiter’s
moon Callisto, discovered
by Galileo in the 17th
century. Valhalla, a
crater on this moon’s
surface named for the
home of fallen warriors in
Norse mythology, is the
largest at roughly 4,023
kilometres in diametre.
Unlike Callisto, Earth
is shielded from space
rocks by its atmosphere
but has nonetheless had
its share of impacts.
If you want the feeling
of standing inside the
rim of Valhalla, you
can visit some of the
190 confirmed craters
on our planet created
by meteorites. The
largest is Vredefort
crater, a rumpled
ring of mountains in
South Africa some 160
kilometres across. You
can also check out the
smaller, younger, and
more intact Pingualuit
crater, which rises from
the tundra in northern
Quebec. An early
prospector mistakenly
believed that the almost
perfectly round feature
was a kimberlite pipe
where he might find
diamonds. Those who
trek out to Pingualuit
today will instead find
the “crystal eye of
Nunavik,” a deep
freshwater lake filled
with extraordinarily clear
water. A different sort of
lake, one that’s shallow
and salty, marks the
centre of the Acraman
crater, located in the
Gawler Ranges of remote,
arid South Australia.EXPLORE MORE
Lowell Observatory
Flagstaff, Arizona
As part of their prep for
the moon landing, Apollo
astronauts visited this
site where Pluto was
discovered in 1930. Take
a look through the Clark
Refractor telescope,
which has been used to
study moons, planets,
and comets. This year
the Giovale Open Deck
Observatory debuts.
lowell.edu40 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER INDIA | JULY 2019