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Anzu (crater)

crater on Ganymede

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 16, 2026
Entity authorityQ25908078
Source-derived summary

Anzu is a geologically uplifted and disrupted dome crater on Ganymede, the largest moon of Jupiter. It is approximately 210 kilometres (130 mi) wide.

Naming

Anzu is named after a creature from Mesopotamian mythology called the Anzû (also known as Zu or Imdugud). It has the body and wings of an eagle and the head of a lion, and is famous for stealing the Tablet of Destinies, a sacred clay tablet that bestows supreme power upon its holder, from Enlil, the supreme god of Mesopotamian mythology. Anzû was eventually slain by the gods, and the tablet was recovered.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) chose this name in accordance with the convention that surface features on Ganymede are to be named after deities, figures, and places from ancient Middle Eastern mythologies, including Mesopotamian mythology, from which Anzû originates.

The name for the crater was approved by the IAU in 2000.

The massive, furrow surface feature on Ganymede called Zu Fossae is named after the same character from Babylonian mythology.

In addition, another crater on Ganymede, called En-zu, has a name that is homonymous with Anzu.

Location

Anzu is located in the far northern hemisphere of Ganymede, on the northwestern side of the bright grooved terrain known as Xibalba Sulcus.

Editorial summary

“Anzu (crater)” enters the record as crater on Ganymede. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Anzu, crater and Ganymede can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2000—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Anzu, crater and Ganymede.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Anzu (crater)” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Anzu, crater and Ganymede provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q25908078. Authority coordinates are 63.510, -62.730. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2000.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Anzu (crater)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Anzu (crater) primary sources, Anzu (crater) archive and Anzu research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Anzu (crater)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.