Unlike other Mercurian craters of similar size, Raphael is not multi-ringed.[3]
The crater Flaiano lies just south of the center of Raphael.
There is also a high-albedo area east of Flaiano, that is associated with irregular depressions. The area was named Madu Facula by the IAU in 2023.[4] The depressions are similar to those within Navoi, Lermontov, Scarlatti, and Praxiteles. The depressions resemble those associated with volcanic explosions.[5]
References
^"Raphael". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. IAU/NASA/USGS. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
^Denevi, B. W., Ernst, C. M., Prockter, L. M., and Robinson, M. S., 2018. The Geologic History of Mercury. In Mercury: The View After MESSENGER edited by Sean C. Solomon, Larry R. Nittler, and Brian J. Anderson. Cambridge Planetary Science. Chapter 6, Table 6.3.
^Trask, N.J., 1976, History of basin development on Mercury: Conference on Comparisons of Mercury and The Moon: Lunar Science Institute Contribution no. 262, p.36.