Beals (crater)

Last updated
Beals
Beals crater LROC.jpg
LRO image
Coordinates 37°18′N86°30′E / 37.3°N 86.5°E / 37.3; 86.5 Coordinates: 37°18′N86°30′E / 37.3°N 86.5°E / 37.3; 86.5
Diameter 48 km
Depth Unknown
Colongitude 277° at sunrise
Eponym Carlyle S. Beals
Oblique Lunar Orbiter 4 image centered on Riemann with Beals at lower left Riemann crater Beals crater 4165 h2.jpg
Oblique Lunar Orbiter 4 image centered on Riemann with Beals at lower left

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.

This crater formation is only lightly worn, with no significant impacts within its perimeter. The inner wall is narrower along the north-northeast face where the crater intrudes into Riemann, and the rim is somewhat irregular at the southern end. The interior floor has only a few minor ridges located near the midpoint.

Beals was formerly designated Riemann A, a satellite crater of Riemann, until the International Astronomical Union renamed it in 1982 to commemorate Carlyle S. Beals, a Canadian astronomer. [1] Prior to the crater being designated Riemann A, this crater was known as Crater 110. [2]

Related Research Articles

Born (crater) Lunar crater

Born is a small lunar impact crater located near the eastern edge of the Moon, to the northeast of the prominent crater Langrenus. It was previously designated Maclaurin Y before being named by the IAU in 1979. Maclaurin itself lies to the north.

Artamonov (crater)

Artamonov is a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. Its eroded outer rim does not have the circular shape of most lunar craters, but the overall shape of three or four merged craters. The largest is in the south, with smaller circular bulges to the north and east.

Atwood (crater)

Atwood is a small earth moon 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.

Back (crater)

Back is a small lunar impact crater that is located near the eastern limb of the Moon. It lies on the northwest edge of the Mare Smythii, and the northeast rim is adjacent to the crater Schubert. To the west is Jenkins, and to the southwest is the Weierstrass–Van Vleck crater pair.

Naonobu (crater)

Naonobu is a small lunar impact crater named after Japanese mathematician Ajima Naonobu. It is located on the eastern Mare Fecunditatis, to the northwest of the prominent crater Langrenus, and it forms a triple-crater formation with the adjacent Atwood to the south and Bilharz just to the southwest. Naonobu and Atwood are separated by only a few kilometres.

Fechner (crater)

Fechner is a lunar impact crater that lies on the far side of the Moon's southern hemisphere, attached to the western rim of the large walled plain Planck. The eastern rim of Fechner intersects the Vallis Planck, a long, wide cleft in the surface that follows a course to the north-northwest. This valley intrudes into the southeastern rim of the crater, then continues northwards from the periphery of the northeast rim.

Becquerel (lunar crater) Lunar impact crater

Becquerel is a lunar impact crater that lies in the northern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. This is an ancient and heavily worn formation that is now little more than an irregular buri in the surface. The outer rim has been worn and reshaped until it forms a rugged, mountainous region around the flatter interior.

Barkla (crater) Lunar impact crater

Barkla is a lunar impact crater that lies near the eastern limb of the Moon. It is located to the east of the prominent crater Langrenus, and was formerly designated Langrenus A before being renamed by the IAU in 1979. Due east of Barkla is Kapteyn, a formation only slightly larger with a similar size. Southwest of Barkla is the crater Lamé.

Cusanus (crater) Lunar crater

Cusanus is a lunar impact crater that is located near the northeastern limb of the Moon. In this location the crater appears very foreshortened when observed from the Earth, and its visibility is affected by libration. The northern rim of Cusanus is nearly joined to the south-southeastern rim of the larger crater Petermann. To the west is Baillaud and to the southeast is Hayn.

Damoiseau (crater) Lunar impact crater

Damoiseau is a lunar impact crater that is located just to the west of the Oceanus Procellarum, in the western part of the Moon's near side. It lies due east of the prominent crater Grimaldi, a walled plain with a distinctive dark floor. Due south of Damoiseau is the crater Sirsalis.

Riemann (crater)

Riemann is a lunar impact crater that is located near the northeastern limb of the Moon, and can just be observed edge-on when libration effects bring it into sight. It lies to the east-northeast of the large walled plain Gauss. To the southeast, beyond sight on the far side, is the crater Vestine.

Geissler (crater) Lunar impact crater

Geissler is a small lunar impact crater that lies on the northern floor of the much larger walled plain Gilbert, near the eastern limb of the Moon. Just to the northeast of this crater, attached to the outer rim of Gilbert, is the crater pair of Weierstrass and Van Vleck.

Hargreaves (crater)

Hargreaves is a lunar impact crater that lies in the eastern part of the Moon, to the east of the Mare Fecunditatis. It is located to the west of the crater Maclaurin, and was previously designated Maclaurin S before being given a name by the IAU in 1979. Just to the southeast is Morley, and to the west is Webb.

Von Behring (crater)

von Behring is a small lunar impact crater that is located in the eastern part of the Moon. It lies north-northeast of the larger Kapteyn and is to the northwest of La Pérouse. The crater is circular and symmetrical, with an outer rim that is only lightly eroded. There is a small central peak at the midpoint of the interior floor.

Weierstrass (crater)

Weierstrass is a small lunar impact crater that is attached to the northern rim of the walled plain Gilbert, in the eastern part of the Moon. It also lies very near the crater Van Vleck, a similar formation just to the southeast that is almost attached to the outer rim. Due to its location, the crater appears foreshortened as seen from the Earth.

Fleming (crater) Lunar impact crater

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.

Florensky (crater) Lunar impact crater

Florensky is a lunar impact crater that is attached to the northeastern rim of the larger crater Vernadskiy. It is located on the far side of the Moon and cannot be directly seen from the Earth. The rim of this crater has been heavily eroded and it forms an irregular ring about the uneven interior. This crater was previously identified as Vernadskiy B before being assigned a name by the IAU in 1985.

Patsaev Lunar impact crater

Patsaev is a lunar impact crater that lies on the far side of the Moon, to the northeast of the prominent crater Tsiolkovskiy. To the northwest is the smaller crater Lander.

Möbius (crater)

Möbius is a lunar impact crater that is located on the Moon's far side, beyond the eastern limb and northeast of the Mare Marginis. It lies less than one crater diameter to the northwest of the larger, 90-km-diameter Hertz, and just to the southeast of Popov. To the north of Mobius is the crater chain designated Catena Dziewulski, which takes its name from the crater Dziewulski to the north-northwest.

Sternfeld (crater)

Sternfeld is a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. It lies to the south-southwest of the crater Paschen, and to the east-southeast of the smaller Lodygin.

References

  1. Beals, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)
  2. Lunar Farside Chart (LFC-1A)