# Travers (Mercurian crater)

**Travers** is an impact crater on the planet Mercury, 164.00 km in diameter, centered at 28.00° south latitude and 329.10° west longitude in the planetographic coordinate system used by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).<sup>[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15773)</sup> The IAU adopted the name on October 19, 2018, honoring Pamela Lyndon Travers (born Helen Lyndon Goff; 1899-1996), the Australian-born British writer best known for the [Mary Poppins](https://www.edgepedia.org/mary-poppins-book-series) series of children's books.<sup>[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15773)</sup>

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Target and type | Crater on Mercury<sup>[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15773)</sup> |
| Diameter | 164.00 km<sup>[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15773)</sup> |
| Center | 28.00°S, 329.10°W (planetographic, +West, 0-360)<sup>[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15773)</sup> |
| Extent | Latitude -26.10° to -30.00°, longitude 327.10° to 331.10°<sup>[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15773)</sup> |
| Quadrangle | H-14<sup>[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15773)</sup> |
| Approval | Adopted by IAU, October 19, 2018<sup>[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15773)</sup> |
| Namesake | P. L. Travers, Australian-born British writer of the Mary Poppins books (1899-1996)<sup>[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15773)</sup> |

## Location and mapping

The crater sits in Mercury's southern hemisphere at mid-southern latitudes, with its rim spanning about 3.9 degrees of latitude and 4 degrees of longitude.<sup>[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15773)</sup> It falls within the H-14 quadrangle of the 1:5 million-scale series of Mercury maps, a 15-quadrangle series whose base mosaic was produced from orbital images by the [MESSENGER](https://www.edgepedia.org/messenger) team and released by NASA's Planetary Data System in March 2013.<sup>[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15773)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/mercuryQuadMap)</sup>

## Naming

The name was approved by the IAU's Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) on October 19, 2018, the same day the group approved the name [Carleton](https://www.edgepedia.org/carleton-mercurian-crater) for another Mercurian crater and the names Meteor Rupes and Kainan Rupes, all shown on Mercury map H-14.<sup>[3](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/News?page=18)</sup> The gazetteer entry records the reference work behind the name choice as *Mary Poppins She Wrote: The Life of P.L. Travers* by Valerie Lawson (Aurum, 2005).<sup>[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15773)</sup>

## Context

Travers belongs to the large population of impact craters on Mercury. A global database compiled from MESSENGER imagery catalogs more than 31,000 craters larger than 5 km across, excluding obvious secondary craters, and craters of Travers's size, well over 100 km in diameter, are among the planet's major impact structures.<sup>[4](https://doi.org/10.1029/2017JE005516)</sup> Mercury's surface records a long cratering history, and the distribution of craters provides the main source of information about the age and geologic history of the planet.<sup>[4](https://doi.org/10.1029/2017JE005516)</sup>

## References

1. [Travers, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, USGS Astrogeology Science Center](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15773)
2. [1:5 Million-Scale Maps of Mercury, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/mercuryQuadMap)
3. [Nomenclature News, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/News?page=18)
4. [Herrick et al. (2018). Observations From a Global Database of Impact Craters on Mercury With Diameters Greater than 5 km. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.](https://doi.org/10.1029/2017JE005516)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Places and geography › Extraterrestrial places › Planetary surfaces and named features › Mercury surface features › Mercury craters › Craters named for novelists and prose writers*

*Initially written Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 25, 2026*

*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*

License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license