Bonpland (crater)

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Bonpland
Bonpland crater 4120 h3.jpg
Coordinates 8°18′S17°24′W / 8.3°S 17.4°W / -8.3; -17.4 Coordinates: 8°18′S17°24′W / 8.3°S 17.4°W / -8.3; -17.4
Diameter 60 km
Colongitude 17° at sunrise
Eponym Aimé Bonpland
Bonpland (left side above center) from Apollo 16. NASA photo. AS16-M-1685.jpg
Bonpland (left side above center) from Apollo 16. NASA  photo.

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. [1]

Contents

Bonpland and its satellite craters Bonpland sattelite craters map.jpg
Bonpland and its satellite craters

This rim of Bonpland is heavily worn and eroded, with the intrusion of Parry in the east creating a bulging extension to the southeast. The floor has been flooded by lava in the past, leaving a relatively flat surface that is broken by a series of narrow clefts. These are collectively designated the Rimae Parry. The clefts cross the rim to the south and also to the north, extending into the neighboring Fra Mauro.

Satellite craters

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Bonpland.

BonplandLatitudeLongitudeDiameter
C10.2° S17.4° W4 km
D10.1° S18.2° W6 km
F7.3° S19.3° W4 km
G11.6° S18.8° W4 km
H11.4° S19.9° W4 km
J11.4° S20.4° W3 km
L7.5° S21.2° W3 km
N9.4° S21.4° W3 km
P10.9° S21.5° W1 km
R10.7° S18.6° W3 km

The following craters have been renamed by the IAU.

Related Research Articles

Fra Mauro (crater)

Fra Mauro is the worn remnant of a walled lunar plain. It is part of the surrounding Fra Mauro formation, being located to the northeast of Mare Cognitum and southeast of Mare Insularum. Attached to the southern rim are the co-joined craters Bonpland and Parry, which intrude into the formation forming inward-bulging walls. The crater is named after Italian geographer Fra Mauro.

Bancroft (crater) Lunar impact crater

Bancroft is a small, bowl-shaped impact crater located to the southwest of Archimedes on the Mare Imbrium. A wide, shallow depression runs from the rim of Bancroft southeast to the Montes Archimedes. There are some clefts at the edge of the mare to the west and southwest of the crater. Other prominent craters are two small craters nearly to the west named Feuillée and Beer.

Daniell (crater)

Daniell is a lunar impact crater located in the southern half of the Lacus Somniorum. To the south-southeast is the much larger crater Posidonius. The Rimae Daniell rille system are to the west of Daniell crater.

Alter (crater)

Alter is a lunar impact crater that is located in the northern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. It lies to the southwest of the larger crater Robertson, and to the east of Ohm.

Argelander (crater)

Argelander is a lunar impact crater that is located in the south-central highlands of the Moon. It was named after the German astronomer Friedrich Argelander. It lies in the midpoint between the smaller crater Vogel in the north and the larger Airy to the south. To the northwest is the worn remnant of Parrot. Just to the west is a shallow cleft in the surface that follows a course to the north-northwest, intersecting the southeast rim of Parrot.

Cleomedes (crater)

Cleomedes is a prominent lunar impact crater located in the northeast part of the visible Moon, to the north of Mare Crisium. It was named after Greek astronomer Cleomedes. It is surrounded by rough ground with multiple crater impacts. The irregular crater Tralles intrudes into the northwest rim. To the east is Delmotte. North of Cleomedes is a triple-crater formation with Burckhardt occupying the center.

Cardanus (crater) Lunar impact crater

Cardanus is a lunar impact crater that is located in the western part of the Moon, in the western part of the Oceanus Procellarum. Due to its location the crater appears very oval because of foreshortening, and it is viewed almost from the side.

Guericke (crater)

Guericke is the remnant of a lunar impact crater at the north part of the Mare Nubium. It is named after German scientist Otto von Guericke. To the north-northwest lies the large Fra Mauro crater, along with the co-joined craters Parry and Bonpland. To the east are the craters Kundt and Davy.

Azophi (crater)

Azophi is a lunar impact crater that lies in the rugged south-central highlands of the Moon. The crater is named after the 10th-century Persian astronomer Abd Al-Rahman Al Sufi, also known by his western name, Azophi. The northwest rim is attached to the slightly smaller crater Abenezra, to the east-southeast is the large and irregular Sacrobosco, and to the west-southwest is Playfair.

Parry (crater) Lunar impact crater

Parry is a lunar impact crater that is attached to the southeast rim of the walled plain Fra Mauro. It was named after British explorer William Parry. Attached to the west and southwest rim of Parry is the crater Bonpland. Due south of Parry is the small crater Tolansky, and farther to the south-southwest is Guericke.

Tolansky (crater)

Tolansky is a small, circular lunar impact crater that is located due south of the crater Parry on the Mare Cognitum. The formation is symmetric, with a light-hued outer rim and a darker interior floor. A rille belonging to the Rimae Parry almost connects with the north-northwestern rim of Tolansky.

Behaim (crater) Lunar impact crater

Behaim is a lunar impact crater that is located near the eastern limb of the Moon, just to the south of the crater Ansgarius. To the south of Behaim is the crater Hecataeus, and to the east-southeast is Gibbs.

Bohr (crater) Lunar surface depression

Bohr is a lunar impact crater that is located near the western lunar limb, in the area that is affected by librations. It is attached to the southwestern rim of the larger, eroded Vasco da Gama formation, and to the southeast of the crater Einstein. The crater was observed for the first time in 1963, by Arthus and Ewen Whitaker in the book Rectified Lunar Atlas.

Borda (crater) Lunar impact crater

Borda is a lunar impact crater that lies between Santbech to the north-northwest and Reichenbach slightly further away to the south-southeast. It was named after French astronomer Jean-Charles de Borda. It has a low rim that is broken along the southeast by a smaller crater. The rim is intruded into by another small crater along the southwest side, and there is an irregular cleft along the northwest face. There is a central peak at the midpoint of the floor.

Bunsen (crater)

Bunsen is a lunar impact crater that lies near the northwestern limb of the Moon. It is located to the west of the Oceanus Procellarum and the crater von Braun. To the southeast is the crater Lavoisier, and to the northeast lies Gerard. Northwest of Bunsen, on the far side of the Moon, is McLaughlin. Due to its position this crater appears foreshortened when viewed from the Earth, and its visibility is affected by libration.

De Roy (crater) Lunar impact crater

De Roy is a lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon, just behind the southwestern limb. This portion of the lunar surface is brought into view during favorable librations, allowing observation of this formation. However the crater is viewed from the side when watched from the Earth, and little detail can be seen. De Roy lies to the west of the crater Arrhenius, and east of the larger Boltzmann.

Casatus (crater) Lunar impact crater

Casatus is a lunar impact crater that is located near the southern limb of the Moon. The north-northeast rim of the crater overlies a portion of the slightly larger crater Klaproth. Along the western rim, Casatus A intrudes somewhat into the interior, producing an inward-bowing rim. To the southeast of Casatus is Newton.

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.

Chapman (crater)

Chapman is a lunar impact crater that lies just beyond the northwest rim of the Moon, on the far side as seen from the Earth. It lies to the northeast of the crater Rynin, and southward of the large walled plain Poczobutt.

Lindsay (crater) Small lunar impact crater in the central highlands of the Moon

Lindsay is a small lunar impact crater in the central highlands of the Moon. It was named after the Irish astronomer Eric Mervyn Lindsay. It lies in the irregular terrain to the northwest of the landing site of the Apollo 16 mission. To the south is the crater Anděl, and Taylor is to the east-northeast.

References

  1. "Bonpland (crater)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.