Coordinates | 46°42′N44°24′E / 46.7°N 44.4°E |
---|---|
Diameter | 87 km |
Depth | 2.0 km |
Colongitude | 316° at sunrise |
Eponym | Atlas |
Atlas is a prominent lunar impact crater that is located in the northeast part of the Moon, to the southeast of Mare Frigoris. Just to the west is the slightly smaller but still prominent crater Hercules. Northeast of Atlas is the large crater Endymion.
The inner wall of Atlas is multiply terraced and the edge slumped, forming a sharp-edged lip. This is a floor-fractured crater [1] with a rough and hilly interior that has a lighter albedo than the surroundings. Floor-fractures are usually created as a result of volcanic modifications.
There are two dark patches along the inner edge of the walls; one along the north edge and another besides the southeast edges. A system of slender clefts named the Rimae Atlas crosses the crater floor, and were created by volcanism. Along the north and northeastern inner sides are a handful of dark-halo craters, most likely due to eruptions. Around the midpoint is a cluster of low central hills arranged in a circular formation.
Atlas is a crater of Upper (Late) Imbrian age. [2]
The name Atlas was formally recognized by the IAU in 1935. [3]
Its southwest quadrangle is characterised by an extremely high rockfall density by lunar standards. [4] : 2, 3
By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Atlas.
Atlas | Latitude | Longitude | Diameter |
---|---|---|---|
A | 45.3° N | 49.6° E | 22 km |
D | 50.4° N | 49.6° E | 25 km |
E | 48.6° N | 42.5° E | 58 km |
G | 50.7° N | 46.5° E | 23 km |
L | 51.3° N | 48.6° E | 6 km |
P | 49.6° N | 52.7° E | 27 km |
W | 44.4° N | 44.2° E | 4 km |
X | 45.1° N | 45.0° E | 5 km |
The Atlas crater was the primary landing site of the Hakuto-R Mission 1 by ispace, that launched on December 11, 2022. [5] separating from the rocket 47 minutes later at a distance around 970 kilometres (600 mi) away from Earth. [6] [ verification needed ] If it had been successful, this mission would have been the first private landing on the lunar surface, [7] and would have been the first Japanese probe to land on the Moon.
Communication with Hakuto-R Mission 1 was lost during the final moments of descent to the lunar surface at 16:40 UTC (00:40 JST) on 25 April 2023. [6] [ verification needed ] The iSpace team confirmed that the $90 million dollar spacecraft had most likely crashed during its landing on the Moon. Analysis determined that the lander plummeted uncontrollably when the propellant was exhausted. This happened because the onboard computer wrongly assumed the radar altimeter was faulty, and ignoring its data, misjudged the actual altitude of the spacecraft and kept hovering 5 kilometers above the surface of the Moon. [6] [8] [9]
Aristoteles is a lunar impact crater that lies near the southern edge of the Mare Frigoris and to the east of the Montes Alpes mountain range. It was officially named in 1935 after the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle by the International Astronomical Union, using the classical form of his name.
Fabricius is a lunar impact crater that is located within the northeast part of the walled plain Janssen. Attached to the north-northwest rim is the slightly larger crater Metius. Fabricius has multiple central peaks that rise to 0.8 km, with a rugged rise to the northwest running north–south. The rim is lumpy and somewhat distended, most noticeably to the southwest and south. It is 78 kilometers in diameter and 2,500 meters deep. It is from the Eratosthenian period, 3.2 to 1.1 billion years ago. It is named after David Fabricius, a 16th-century German astronomer.
Airy is a lunar impact crater located in the southern highlands. It is named in honour of British astronomer George Biddell Airy. It forms the southernmost member of a chain of craters consisting of Vogel, Argelander, and Airy. A little further to the south lies Donati. Airy has a worn, and somewhat polygonal rim that it broken at the northern and southern ends. It has an fractured floor and a central peak.
Plato is a lava-filled lunar impact crater on the Moon. Its diameter is 101 km. It was named after ancient Greek philosopher Plato. It is located on the northeastern shore of the Mare Imbrium, at the western extremity of the Montes Alpes mountain range. In the mare to the south are several rises collectively named the Montes Teneriffe. To the north lies the wide stretch of the Mare Frigoris. East of the crater, among the Montes Alpes, are several rilles collectively named the Rimae Plato.
Censorinus is a 3.8 km lunar impact crater located on a rise to the southeast of the Mare Tranquillitatis. It is named after the ancient Roman writer Censorinus. To the northeast is the crater Maskelyne.
Clerke is a tiny lunar impact crater named after Irish astronomer Agnes Mary Clerke, who played a role in bringing astronomy and astrophysics to the public in Victorian England. It is located near the eastern edge of Mare Serenitatis in the midst of a rille system named the Rimae Littrow after the crater Littrow to the east. It is roughly circular and cup-shaped, with a relatively high albedo. In a valley to the southeast is the landing site of the Apollo 17 mission. Clerke was previously designated Littrow B.
Faraday is a lunar impact crater in the southern highlands of the Moon. It was named after British chemist and physicist Michael Faraday. It lies across the southeast rim of the larger crater Stöfler, and the northwest rim of Faraday forms a wide rampart across the otherwise flat floor of Stöfler. To the east of Faraday is Maurolycus.
Endymion is a lunar impact crater that lies near the northeast limb of the Moon. It is located to the east of Mare Frigoris and north of Lacus Temporis. To the southwest is the somewhat smaller crater Atlas. Because of its location, Endymion has an oval appearance from foreshortening. Beyond the crater along the lunar limb is the Mare Humboldtianum.
Eudoxus is a prominent lunar impact crater that lies to the east of the northern tip of the Montes Caucasus range. It is named after the Greek astronomer Eudoxus of Cnidus. It is located to the south of the prominent crater Aristoteles in the northern regions of the visible Moon. To the south is the ruined formation of Alexander, and the small crater Lamèch lies to the southwest.
Hercules is a prominent crater located in the northeast part of the Moon, to the west of the crater Atlas. It lies along the east edge of a southward extension in the Mare Frigoris. To the west across the mare is Bürg. To the south is the ruined crater Williams.
Lambert is a lunar impact crater on the southern half of the Mare Imbrium basin. It was named after Swiss polymath Johann Heinrich Lambert. It lies to the east and somewhat south of the slightly larger crater Timocharis. To the south is the smaller Pytheas, and some distance to the west-southwest is Euler.
Lansberg is a lunar impact crater on the Mare Insularum. It can be located by following a line south-southwest from Copernicus to Reinhold, then southwest to Lansberg. The crater has a high rim and a central mountain. There are terraces along the inner walls, and the tops have slumped to produce a sharp edge. This formation is not noticeably eroded, and there are no significant impact craters within the interior.
Manilius is a lunar impact crater on the northeast edge of Mare Vaporum. Its diameter is 38 km.
Maraldi is a worn, eroded crater on the western edge of the Sinus Amoris, in the northeast part of the Moon. To the west-southwest is the crater Vitruvius, and to the northwest lies the worn Littrow crater. Just to the northeast of the crater is the dome-like Mons Maraldi rise.
Römer is a lunar impact crater that is located to the north of the Sinus Amoris in the northeast section of the Moon. It was named after Danish astronomer Ole Rømer. It lies in the southwestern part of the mountainous region named the Montes Taurus. It was unofficially named as Atatürk by astronomer Hugh Percy Wilkins in his lunar map, possibly due to the fact that the Montes Taurus are located in Turkey. To the west-northwest is the crater-bay Le Monnier, on the eastern edge of Mare Serenitatis.
Tsiolkovskiy is a large lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon. Named for Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, it lies in the southern hemisphere, to the west of the large crater Gagarin, and northwest of Milne. Just to the south is Waterman, with Neujmin to the south-southwest. The crater protrudes into the neighbouring Fermi, an older crater of comparable size that does not have a lava-flooded floor.
Bürg is a prominent lunar impact crater in the northeast part of the Moon. It lies within the lava-flooded, ruined crater formation designated Lacus Mortis. To the south and southeast is the crater pair Plana and Mason. To the west, beyond the rim of Lacus Mortis, is the prominent crater Eudoxus.
Campanus is a lunar impact crater that is located on the southwestern edge of Mare Nubium. It was named after Italian astronomer Campanus of Novara. It forms a crater pair with Mercator just to the southeast. Along the southern rampart of Campanus is the small lunar mare named Palus Epidemiarum. To the southwest is the small crater Dunthorne.
Maunder is a lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon, just beyond the western limb. This region is sometimes brought into view during favorable librations, but not much detail can be seen. The crater lies at the northern end of the Mare Orientale, within the ring of mountains named Montes Rook, and it is the largest crater on this lunar mare. To the southeast is the crater Kopff, and due south is the small Hohmann.
Pasteur is a large lunar impact crater, approximately 233 kilometers in diameter, belonging to the category termed a walled plain. It was named after French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur. It lies on the far side of the Moon as seen from the Earth, just beyond the eastern limb. The vicinity of this crater is occasionally brought into view from Earth due to librations, although not much detail can be seen.