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En-zu (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 authorityQ25908096 ↗
Source-derived summary

En-zu is a small crater located a few kilometers north of the equator of Ganymede, the largest moon of Jupiter. Its crater floor is covered with dark material, which is why it is classified as a "dark crater." It has a very small central peak, and the crater itself has a diameter of only approximately 5 kilometres (3.1 mi), making it the second-smallest named crater on Ganymede. Anat is the only named crater smaller than En-zu.

Naming

The name En-zu is derived from the Akkadian name of the Babylonian god Sin.

Crater naming on Ganymede follows the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) convention of naming craters after deities, heroes, and places from Ancient Near Eastern mythologies. Enzu is a Mesopotamian god which is why the IAU approved the name for En-zu in 1997.

Two other craters on Ganymede, Sin and Nanna, are named after the same Babylonian deity as En-zu.

Another crater on Ganymede called Anzu has a name that is homonymous with En-zu.

Geography and location

En-zu is located near Ganymede's equator, just a few kilometers to the north. It lies near the center of the smoother, grooved terrain known as Uruk Sulcus, where it is entirely surrounded by grooves.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “En-zu (crater)” is crater on Ganymede. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through En-zu, crater and Ganymede, not as a finished interpretation.

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—1997—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, En-zu, crater and Ganymede is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “crater on Ganymede” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

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 Q25908096. Authority coordinates are 11.590, -168.400. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1997.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. 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.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “En-zu (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.