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Amundsen is a large lunar impact crater located near the south pole of the Moon, named after the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. It lies along the southern lunar limb, and so is viewed from the side by an observer on the Earth. To the northwest is the crater Scott, a formation of similar dimensions that is named for another Antarctic explorer. Nobile is attached to the western rim.
Daedalus is a prominent crater located near the center of the far side of the Moon. The inner wall is terraced, and there is a cluster of central peaks on the relatively flat floor. Because of its location, it has been proposed as the site of a future giant radio telescope, which would be scooped out of the crater itself, much like the Arecibo radio telescope, but on a vastly larger scale.
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.
Chladni is a small lunar impact crater that lies near the northwest edge of Sinus Medii, in the central part of the Moon. The crater is named for German physicist and musician Ernst Chladni who, in 1794, wrote the first book on meteorites. The rim of the crater is roughly circular, and there is a small central floor at the midpoint of the sloping inner walls. This feature has a higher albedo than the surrounding terrain. It is connected by a low ridge to the rim of the crater Murchison, which lies to the northwest. Due east of Chladni is the larger Triesnecker.
Scott is a lunar impact crater near the south pole of the Moon. Its location close to the lunar limb hinders observation, both from the foreshortening of the crater as seen from Earth and from the limited sunlight that enters the basin. The northern end of this crater is in near perpetual darkness, and has not been mapped in detail. Scott lies between the similar-sized crater Amundsen to the southeast and Schomberger to the northwest. Just to the northeast is the crater Demonax.
Al-Biruni is an impact crater that lies on the far side of the Moon, just beyond the eastern limb. This portion of the surface is sometimes brought into sight due to librations of the Moon, but due to its location the crater is viewed from the side. Al-Biruni lies to the south of the crater Joliot, and to the northeast of Goddard. It is named after the great Persian scientist Al-Biruni.
Shackleton is an impact crater that lies at the lunar south pole. The peaks along the crater's rim are exposed to almost continual sunlight, while the interior is perpetually in shadow. The low-temperature interior of this crater functions as a cold trap that may capture and freeze volatiles shed during comet impacts on the Moon. Measurements by the Lunar Prospector spacecraft showed higher than normal amounts of hydrogen within the crater, which may indicate the presence of water ice. The crater is named after Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton.
Alhazen is a lunar impact crater that lies near the eastern limb of the Moon's near side. Just to the south-southeast is the crater Hansen, and to the west is the Mare Crisium. The rim of Alhazen is nearly circular, but appears highly oblong when viewed from the Earth due to foreshortening. The inner walls and the crater floor are rugged and irregular. A low ridge joins the south rim of Alhazen with the nearby Hansen. The crater is named after the Arab Muslim scientist, Ibn al-Haytham.
Peary is the closest large lunar impact crater to the lunar north pole. At this latitude the crater interior receives little sunlight, and portions of the southernmost region of the crater floor remain permanently cloaked in shadow. From the Earth the crater appears on the northern lunar limb, and is seen from the side.
Boltzmann is an old lunar impact crater that is located along the southern limb of the Moon, in the vicinity of the south pole. At this location the crater is viewed from the side from Earth, and so not much detail can be seen. It is located to the north of the walled plain Drygalski, and to the west of the crater Le Gentil.
Malapert is a lunar impact crater that lies near the south pole of the Moon, named for 17th century astronomer Charles Malapert. From the Earth this formation is viewed from the side, limiting the amount of detail that can be seen. The crater is also illuminated at very low angles, so that parts of the interior remain in almost constant darkness. The nearest craters of note are Cabeus to the west, and Shoemaker to the south-southeast and nearer to the south pole of the Moon.
Lunar water is water that is present on the Moon. The search for the presence of lunar water has attracted considerable attention and motivated several recent lunar missions, largely because of water's usefulness in making long-term lunar habitation feasible.
Paul D. Spudis (1952–2018) was an American geologist and lunar scientist. His specialty was the study of volcanism and impact processes on the planets, including Mercury and Mars.
Sundman is a lunar impact crater that lies just past the western limb of the Moon. Although it lies on the far side from the Earth, this part of the surface is brought into view during periods of favorable libration and illumination. Sundman lies to the southwest of the walled plain Einstein, and to the west of the Vallis Bohr cleft. It was named after Finnish mathematician and astronomer Karl F. Sundman.
The New Frontiers program is a series of space exploration missions being conducted by NASA with the purpose of furthering the understanding of the Solar System. The program selects medium-class missions which can provide high science returns.
The lunar south pole is the southernmost point on the Moon. It is of interest to scientists because of the occurrence of water ice in permanently shadowed areas around it. The lunar south pole region features craters that are unique in that the near-constant sunlight does not reach their interior. Such craters are cold traps that contain fossil records of hydrogen, water ice, and other volatiles dating from the early Solar System. In contrast, the lunar north pole region exhibits a much lower quantity of similarly sheltered craters.
Fibiger is a lunar impact crater located on the lunar near side near the northern pole. The nearest major feature is the Byrd crater. The crater was adopted and named after Danish pathologist Johannes Andreas Grib Fibiger in 2009 by the IAU. Located just north of Fibiger are craters Erlanger and Peary, which are 9.9 km and 73 km in diameter, respectively.
Zhang Yuzhe is a lunar impact crater located on the Lunar far side near the southern pole. The crater is located between the prominent craters Crommelin and Zeeman. Zhang Yuzhe was adopted and named after Chinese astronomer Zhang Yuzhe by the IAU in August, 2010.
Slater is an impact crater near the south pole of the Moon. Like nearby Shackleton, the floor of the crater is in nearly perpetual darkness.
Wargo is a lunar crater on the far side of the Moon. It is located to the south of Blazhko, and to the west of Joule.
References
- 1 2 Bussey, Ben; Spudis, Paul (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. i. ISBN 978-0521815284.
- ↑ "Dr. Ben Bussey Joins NASA". Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute. Retrieved 2019-03-01.
- 1 2 Bizony, Piers (2014). New Space Frontiers: Venturing into Earth Orbit and Beyond. Minneapolis, MN: Zenith Press. p. 77. ISBN 9780760346662.
