Crater chain Crater chain A crater chain is a line of craters along the surface of an astronomical body. The descriptor term for crater chains is catena (plural catenae), as specified by the International Astronomical Union's rules on planetary nomenclature. Many examples of such chains are thought to have been formed by the impact of a body that was broken up by tidal forces into a string of smaller objects following roughly the same orbit. An example of such a tidally disrupted body that was observed prior to its impact on Jupiter is Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. During the Voyager observations of the
4446 Carolyn The "Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link" assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 32.03 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 11.2. This minor planet was named by the discoverer after American astronomer Carolyn Shoemaker (born 1929), a prolific discoverer of minor planets and comets, such as Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9. Many of her discoveries were co-discoveries with her husband Gene Shoemaker. The official naming citation was prepared by David Levy and Jean Mueller, and published by the Minor Planet Center on 27 June 1991 (). 4446 Carolyn 4446 Carolyn, provisional designation , is a