Lunar Orbiter 4 image | |
Coordinates | 7°18′N49°54′E / 7.3°N 49.9°E Coordinates: 7°18′N49°54′E / 7.3°N 49.9°E |
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Diameter | 12 km |
Depth | Unknown |
Colongitude | 310° at sunrise |
Eponym | Goryu Asada |
Asada is a small lunar impact crater located at the northern edge of Mare Fecunditatis, to the northeast of the crater Taruntius. It is a circular crater formation with inner walls that slope down toward a small central floor at the midpoint. Asada was designated Taruntius A prior to being named by the IAU.
Lunar craters are impact craters on Earth's Moon. The Moon's surface has many craters, almost all of which were formed by impacts.
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.
Mare Fecunditatis is a lunar mare which is 840 km in diameter.
Apollo 10 was a May 1969 human spaceflight, the fourth crewed mission in the United States Apollo program, and the second to orbit the Moon. It was the F mission: a "dress rehearsal" for the first Moon landing, testing all of the components and procedures, just short of actually landing. The Apollo Lunar Module (LM) was flown to a descent orbit within 8.4 nautical miles (15.6 km) of the lunar surface, at the point where powered descent for landing would normally begin. After orbiting the Moon 31 times Apollo 10 returned safely to Earth, and its success enabled the first landing to be attempted on the Apollo 11 mission two months later.
Smithson is a small lunar impact crater located in the northeast part of Mare Fecunditatis. It is a circular, cup-shaped feature with a slightly higher albedo than the surrounding, dark lunar mare. It was previously identified as Taruntius N before being renamed by the IAU. Taruntius itself lies to the west-northwest, in the northwestern part of the same mare.
Bobillier is a tiny, cup-shaped lunar impact crater in the southwest part of Mare Serenitatis. It was named after French geometer Étienne Bobillier in 1976. It lies to the north-northwest of the crater Bessel. To the south and west is a wrinkle ridge designated Dorsum Buckland. Bobillier was previously identified as Bessel E.
Zähringer is a small lunar impact crater located near the southeast fringes of Mare Tranquillitatis. To the northeast is the flooded crater Lawrence, and to the southeast are the Montes Secchi mountains and the crater Secchi. Farther to the east lies Taruntius. Zähringer is a circular, bowl-shaped formation with a small interior floor at the midpoint of the sloping inner walls. It is not markedly worn by subsequent impacts.
Blagg is a tiny lunar impact crater located on the Sinus Medii. It is a circular crater with no appreciable erosion. To the east-southeast is the irregular crater Rhaeticus, and northeast lies Triesnecker. It is about 33 km to the east of the slightly larger Bruce. It was named after noted English astronomer Mary Adela Blagg. Its diameter is 5.0 km.
Anville is a relatively small, solitary lunar impact crater located in the north part of the Mare Fecunditatis. It is named after French cartographer Jean-Baptiste d'Anville. This is a circular, cup-shaped formation with a sharp edge and little appearance of wear. Some minor slumping has occurred in the eastern half of the interior wall. It was designated Taruntius G prior to being assigned a name by the IAU. Taruntius itself lies to the north-northwest, at the edge of the mare.
Cameron is a small lunar impact crater that lies across the northwest rim of the crater Taruntius. It was named after American astronomer Robert Curry Cameron, by his wife, lunar specialist Winifred Cameron. This formation is circular and cup-shaped, with no particular distinguishing features. It was previously designated Taruntius C.
Carrillo is a small lunar impact crater located near the eastern limb of the Moon. In this location the crater is subject to lunar libration effects, and appears highly oval due to foreshortening. It is located on the slope of highlands on the west side of Mare Smythii, and its inner wall is wider on the western side than to the east.
Taruntius is a lunar impact crater on the northwestern edge of Mare Fecunditatis. It was named after ancient Roman philosopher, mathematician and astrologer Lucius Tarutius Firmanus. To the northwest is the lava-flooded crater Lawrence, and to the north lie the craters Watts and da Vinci.
Secchi is a small lunar impact crater formation on the northwest edge of Mare Fecunditatis. It was named after the 19th-century Italian astronomer Angelo Secchi. To the northeast is the crater Taruntius. The western rim is joined with a section of the minor Montes Secchi range. The rim of this crater has been opened in the northern and southern ends, leaving two curved ridges facing each other across the crater floor. To the south is a pair of rilles designated the Rimae Secchi. These lie near the edge of the mare, and have a combined length of about 40 kilometers.
Atwood is a small lunar impact crater that is located on the Mare Fecunditatis, to the northwest of the prominent crater Langrenus. It forms a triple-crater formation with Naonobu attached to the north rim and Bilharz near the west rim.
Beals is a lunar impact crater that is located near the eastern limb of the Moon, and lies across the southwestern rim of the crater Riemann. From the Earth the crater is viewed nearly from on edge, and is best seen during favorable librations. To the west is the large walled plain Gauss.
Bobone is an old, heavily eroded crater formation that lies on the far side of the Moon. Little remains of the original crater formation, leaving only a bowl-shaped depression in the surface that is pock-marked by tiny craterlets. It is attached to the southwest rim of the large satellite crater Kovalevskaya Q, which has its northeast rim overlaid by Kovalevskaya itself. To the west-southwest is Bronk.
Buisson is a lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon. It is named after the French physicist Henri Buisson. Nearly attached to the southeast rim is the crater Vesalius. To the southwest is Einthoven. The rim of this crater is somewhat worn, and is lowest in the north. There is a low central ridge across the midpoint.
Watts is a small lunar impact crater that is located at the extreme northern edge of the Mare Fecunditatis. It was named after American astronomer Chester Burleigh Watts. Just one crater diameter to the northwest is the irregular da Vinci. Farther to the south is the larger crater Taruntius.
Lawrence is a lunar impact crater that is located on a section of terrain to the east of Mare Tranquillitatis and northwest of Mare Fecunditatis. It was named after American physicist and Nobel laureate Ernest Lawrence and American astronaut Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr.. To the southeast is the larger crater Taruntius. The rille designated Rima Cauchy crosses the eastern part of the Mare Tranquillitatis and reaches as far as the northern rim of Lawrence.
Eckert is a tiny, isolated lunar impact crater in the northern part of the Mare Crisium. This crater forms a circular pit in the dark surface of the surrounding lunar mare. Just to the west is a wrinkle ridge in the mare surface, a feature that is prominent only under oblique lighting from the Sun. The nearest craters of note are Peirce to the west-northwest, and Picard to the southwest. Both of these craters lie in the Mare Crisium basin.
Courtney is a tiny lunar impact crater on the Mare Imbrium, a lunar mare in the northwest quadrant of the Moon. It lies about two crater diameters to the northwest of Euler, in an otherwise isolated stretch of the mare. The dark surface in this region is marked by Euler's ray material. The name is an English male name.
Fleming is a large lunar impact crater that is located on the Moon's far side, and cannot be seen from the Earth. It lies about a crater diameter to the east-northeast of Hertz, and to the northwest of Lobachevskiy.
Aepinus is a small lunar impact crater located along the northern lunar limb, close to the north pole of the Moon. To the south east is the prominent crater Hermite.
Bosch is a small lunar impact crater near the North Pole of the Moon. It is located just to the northeast of Rozhdestvenskiy W
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.