Apollo 15 image | |
Coordinates | 22°42′S146°06′E / 22.7°S 146.1°E Coordinates: 22°42′S146°06′E / 22.7°S 146.1°E |
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Diameter | 16 km |
Depth | Unknown |
Colongitude | 214° at sunrise |
Eponym | Aleksandr A. Andronov |
Andronov is a small lunar impact crater that lies across the southwest rim of the walled plain named Gagarin. It is located on the southern hemisphere of the far side of the Moon, and can not be seen directly from the Earth. Just to the west of Andronov is the crater Levi-Civita.
An impact crater is an approximately circular depression in the surface of a planet, moon, or other solid body in the Solar System or elsewhere, formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller body. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact craters typically have raised rims and floors that are lower in elevation than the surrounding terrain. Impact craters range from small, simple, bowl-shaped depressions to large, complex, multi-ringed impact basins. Meteor Crater is a well-known example of a small impact crater on Earth.
Gagarin is a large lunar impact crater that is located in the southern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. To the southwest is the crater Pavlov and to the northeast lies Keeler. Closer to the rim are the craters Levi-Civita to the southwest, and Beijerinck to the north-northeast. Isaev lies entirely within the northwest rim of Gagarin. In contrast with the floor of Gagarin, Isaev has a floor with a somewhat low albedo.
Earth's Moon is an astronomical body that orbits the planet and acts as its only permanent natural satellite. It is the fifth-largest satellite in the Solar System, and the largest among planetary satellites relative to the size of the planet that it orbits. The Moon is, after Jupiter's satellite Io, the second-densest satellite in the Solar System among those whose densities are known.
Andronov is a circular, bowl-shaped formation with a small central floor. There is a tiny craterlet in the northern interior wall. This feature is otherwise unremarkable, and is similar in appearance to many other small craters to be found across the lunar surface.
Ångström is a small lunar impact crater located on the border between Oceanus Procellarum to the west and Mare Imbrium to the east. To the south is a formation of mountains rising out of the mare named the Montes Harbinger. To the east are some wrinkle ridges named the Dorsum Bucher and Dorsa Argand. This crater is bowl-shaped, with a circular rim and inner walls that slope down to the small central floor. It has a higher albedo than the surrounding maria.
Deseilligny is a small lunar impact crater in the southern part of the Mare Serenitatis. It was named after French selenographer Jules Deseilligny. It is located to the east-southeast of the crater Bessel. Deseilligny is a bowl-shaped crater with a low rim. It is otherwise undistinguished.
Abul Wafa is an impact crater located near the lunar equator on the far side of the Moon, named after the Persian mathematician and astronomer Abu al-Wafa' Buzjani. To the east are the crater pair Ctesibius and Heron. In the northeast lies the larger crater King, and to the southwest is Vesalius.
Aitken is a large lunar impact crater that lies on the far side of the Moon, named for Robert Grant Aitken, an American astronomer specializing in binary stellar systems. It is located to the southeast of the crater Heaviside, and north of the unusual formation Van de Graaff. Attached to the southwest rim is Vertregt. To the southeast is the smaller Bergstrand.
Cauchy is a small lunar impact crater on the eastern Mare Tranquillitatis. It was named after French mathematician Augustin-Louis Cauchy. It is circular and symmetric, with a small interior floor at the midpoint of the sloping inner walls. Due to the high albedo of this bowl-shaped formation, it is particularly prominent at full Moon.
Crile is a tiny lunar impact crater. It is roughly circular and cup-shaped, with interior walls that slope down to the midpoint. The crater lies in the Palus Somni, between the Mare Crisium to the east and Mare Tranquillitatis to the west.
Bonpland is the remains of a lunar impact crater that is attached to the walled plain Fra Mauro to the north and Parry to the east. The intersection of their rims forms a three-pointed mountainous rise. To the southeast is the small crater Tolansky. Bonpland lies on the eastern edge of Mare Cognitum. It is named after Aimé Bonpland, a French explorer and botanist.
Armiński is a small lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon, to the northeast of the large walled basin Gagarin. To the northwest of Armiński is the crater Beijerinck, and to the southeast lies Cyrano.
Bergman is a small lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon. It was named after Swedish astronomer Torbern O. Bergman. It is located on the interior floor of the walled plain Mendeleev, and is attached to the edge of the inner wall to the northwest. On the same walled basin are the craters Moissan to the south and Richards to the west. The rim of Bergman is roughly circular, and the formation is generally bowl-shaped. The western half of the interior floor is covered with a slope of scree, leaving a small level floor on the eastern side.
Daly is a small lunar impact crater that is located in the eastern part of the Moon, to the northwest of the crater Apollonius. This formation is relatively circular, with a slight inward bulge along the northern rim. The inner wall is wider in the southern half than in the north. The crater intrudes into the comparably sized crater Apollonius F to the east-southeast.
Condorcet is a lunar impact crater that is located in the eastern part of the Moon's near side, to the southeast of the Mare Crisium. It was named after French mathematician Marquis de Condorcet. To the northeast of Condorcet are the craters Hansen and Alhazen.
Carmichael is a lunar impact crater that is located along the eastern edge of the Sinus Amoris, in the northeastern quadrant of the Moon's near side. Its diameter is 20 km. It was named after American psychologist Leonard Carmichael. It lies within a couple of crater diameters south-southwest of the smaller crater Hill. Further to the east-northeast is the prominent crater Macrobius. Carmichael was designated Macrobius A before being given its current name by the IAU.
Feuillée is a small lunar impact crater in the eastern part of the Mare Imbrium. It was named after French natural scientist Louis Feuillée. It lies less than a half crater diameter to the northwest of Beer, and the two formations form a nearly matched pair. To the west is the small but prominent crater Timocharis.
Ibn Firnas is a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. In 1976 it was named after Abbas Ibn Firnas, a polymath from Andalucia who, in the 9th century, devised a chain of rings that could be used to simulate the motions of the planets and stars.
Diderot is a small lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. It lies within the southwestern interior floor of the huge walled plain Fermi, about midway between the basin midpoint and the southwest rim. The crater is saucer-shaped, with smaller craters located just to the northwest and the north. The inner wall is narrower along the eastern side, and has a pair of ridges along the southern face. This crater is otherwise unremarkable.
Fox is a small lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. It is named after the American astronomer Philip Fox. It lies near the northern rim of the crater Wyld, and to the southeast of Babcock. This crater is bowl-shaped, with a roughly circular rim, simple sloping walls and a relatively level, featureless interior. There is some talus along the northern inner wall.
Isaev is a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. It is entirely contained within the much larger walled plain Gagarin, and lies in the northwestern part of Gagarin's interior floor. The northwestern outer rim of Isaev is attached to the inner rim of Gagarin.
Raspletin is a lunar impact crater that is located along the southeastern inner edge of the much larger walled plain Gagarin, on the far side of the Moon.
Kosberg is a small lunar impact crater that is located near the middle of the huge walled plain Gagarin, which lies on the far side of the Moon and cannot be viewed directly from the Earth. Kosberg is a flat-bottomed crater with a circular outer rim, simple sloping inner walls, and a somewhat hummocky interior floor. Kosberg also lies just to the west of a similarly sized, but deeper and more prominent bowl-shaped crater, Gagarin G.
Ewen Adair Whitaker was a British-born astronomer who specialized in lunar studies. During World War II he was engaged in quality control for the lead sheathing of hollow cables strung under the English Channel as part of the "Pipe Line Under The Ocean" Project (PLUTO) to supply gasoline to Allied military vehicles in France. After the war, he obtained a position at the Royal Greenwich Observatory working on the UV spectra of stars, but became interested in lunar studies. As a sideline, Whitaker drew and published the first accurate chart of the South Polar area of the Moon in 1954, and served as director of the Lunar Section of the British Astronomical Association.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research.
The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The USGS is a fact-finding research organization with no regulatory responsibility.