Bowditch (crater)

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Bowditch
Bowditch crater AS15-M-2220.jpg
Apollo 15 image
Coordinates 25°00′S103°06′E / 25.0°S 103.1°E / -25.0; 103.1 Coordinates: 25°00′S103°06′E / 25.0°S 103.1°E / -25.0; 103.1
Diameter 40 km
Depth 0.5 km
Colongitude 254° at sunrise
Eponym Nathaniel Bowditch

Bowditch is a lunar impact crater that lies on the far side of the Moon, just beyond the eastern limb. It is located on a region of the lunar surface that is brought into view due to libration, but at such times the area is viewed from the edge and so not much detail can be observed. It lies just to the north of the small Lacus Solitudinis lunar mare, between the craters Titius to the southwest and Perel'man to the east-northeast.

Contents

The rim of this crater is open to the southwest and the crater is elongated to the northeast, possibly due to a merged crater. The outer rim varies in height, with the most prominent sections being the southwest face and a ridge mount to the northwest. The interior floor has been flooded with basaltic lava, an unusual feature for a crater on the far side. The interior floor is generally flat, and marked by a number of small craters. However, there are some low ridges in the surface that are concentric with the inner wall. A formation of irregular ridges occupies most of the rim gap along the southwest.

Oblique view of southwestern rim of Bowditch, showing "strand line" and terrace caused by receding lava Bowditch crater SW AS15-P-9960 ASU.jpg
Oblique view of southwestern rim of Bowditch, showing "strand line" and terrace caused by receding lava

Bowditch is described in the Apollo 15 Preliminary Science Report, along with Lacus Solitudinis to the south, as a significant volcanic feature:

On the southwest wall of the oblong crater (Bowditch) is a distinct "strand line," marking the highest level reached by lava before cooling and withdrawal. A faint trace of this line exists in other parts of the wall. A prominent terrace (around all except the southern part of the outer edges of the floor) marks another state in the subsidence of the lava. [1]

Nearby craters

Bowditch AS15-M-2358 LTVT.jpg

Near the southern rim of this formation, at the northern edge of the Lacus Solitudinus, are four tiny craters that have been assigned individual names by the IAU. These are listed below.

CraterLongitudeLatitudeDiameterName source
Bawa25.3° S102.6° E1 km African masculine name
Edith25.8° S102.3° E8 km English feminine name
Fairouz26.1° S102.9° E3 km Arabic feminine name
Karima25.9° S103.0° E3 km Arabic feminine name

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 Bowditch.

BowditchLatitudeLongitudeDiameter
M26.7° S103.3° E16 km
N26.6° S102.8° E16 km

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Capuanus (crater) Lunar impact crater

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Gauss (crater)

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Mercurius (crater)

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Crozier (crater)

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Daubrée (crater)

Daubrée is a lunar impact crater that is located to the southwest of the Mare Serenitatis, just to the west-southwest of the crater Menelaus in the Montes Haemus range. The small lunar mare Lacus Hiemalis lies along the southwest rim of Daubrée. The crater was named after French geologist Gabriel A. Daubrée. It was previously designated Menelaus S.

Fermi (crater)

Fermi is a large lunar impact crater of the category named a walled plain. It was named after Italian-American physicist and Nobel laureate Enrico Fermi. It lies on the far side of the Moon and can not be viewed from the Earth. Thus this feature must be viewed from an orbiting spacecraft.

Crocco (crater) Lunar impact crater

Crocco is a lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon from the Earth. It is located to the northeast of the huge walled plain Planck, and northwest of the equally huge Poincaré. Just to the north, within one crater diameter, is the crater Koch.

Mason (crater)

Mason is the remains of a lunar impact crater that lies in the northeastern part of the Moon. It is nearly attached to the eastern rim of the flooded crater Plana, and southeast of Bürg. Along the northern rim of Mason is the southern edge of the Lacus Mortis, a small lunar mare. To the south is the larger Lacus Somniorum.

Williams (lunar crater)

Williams is the remnant of a lunar impact crater that lies to the south of the prominent crater Hercules, in the northeastern part of the Moon. The southern rim borders the Lacus Somniorum, a small lunar mare that extends to the south and west. To the southwest is the sharp-rimmed crater Grove.

Titius (crater)

Titius is a lunar impact crater that is located on the Moon's far side, beyond the eastern limb. It lies to the west of the Lacus Solitudinis, a small lunar mare. Less than a crater diameter to the north east is the crater Bowditch, and farther to the southwest is Donner.

Resnik (crater)

Resnik is a small lunar impact crater that is located within the interior of the huge walled plain Apollo, on the Moon's far side. Apollo is a double-ringed formation with a central floor that has been flooded with basaltic lava. Resnik is located at the northern edge of the dark area of the surface. It lies to the southwest of the smaller crater McAuliffe.

Kovalskiy (crater)

Koval'skiy is a crater on the far side of the Moon. It lies about one crater diameter to the southeast of the prominent Sklodowska, and to the north-northwest of Bowditch and Lacus Solitudinis, a small lunar mare.

Parkhurst (crater)

Parkhurst is a heavily degraded lunar impact crater to the northeast of the Mare Australe on the far side of the Moon. To the north-northeast of Parkhurst is the crater Scaliger and to the southwest lies the dark-floored Gernsback. The small lunar mare named Lacus Solitudinis lies due north of Parkhurst.

Perelman (crater)

Perel'man is a worn impact crater that lies on the Moon's far side. It is located less than one crater diameter to the northwest of the prominent crater Scaliger. To the west-southwest is the elongated Bowditch. Southwest of Perel'man is a small lunar mare that has been named Lacus Solitudinis.

References

  1. Apollo 15 Preliminary Science Report, NASA SP-289, 1972, NASA Manned Spacecraft Center. Orbital-Science Investigation, Part L, Selected Volcanic Features, by Mareta N. West.