Capuanus (crater)

Selenochromatic image of the crater area

Capuanus

Lunar Orbiter 4 image
Coordinates	34°06′S26°42′W / 34.1°S 26.7°W / -34.1; -26.7
Diameter	60 km
Colongitude	28° at sunrise
Eponym	F. Capuano di Manfredonia

Capuanus is a lunar impact crater that lies along the southern edge of the Palus Epidemiarum. It was named after Italian astronomer F. Capuano di Manfredonia. ^[2] The outer rim is eroded and indented by lesser crater impacts, with notches in the north, west, and southern parts of the rim. The interior floor has been resurfaced by basaltic lava, which is connected to the surrounding lunar mare by a narrow, crater-formed gap in the northern rim. Dotting the floor of the crater are a number of domes, which are believed to have formed through volcanic activity.

The rim reaches its maximum altitude along the western face, where it merges with ridges along the edge of the mare. To the northeast the rim dips down very close to the surface, and barely forms a curving ridge in the surface. The southeastern rim is overlaid by a pair of craters.

To the north of Capuanus is the western extreme of the wide rille named Rima Hesiodus, which runs to the east-northeast. To the west-northwest is the crater Ramsden, and between Capuanus and Ramsden lies a system of intersecting rilles named the Rimae Ramsden.

Satellite craters

Capuanus and its 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 Capuanus.

Capuanus	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
A	34.7° S	25.6° W	13 km
B	34.3° S	27.7° W	11 km
C	34.9° S	25.3° W	10 km
D	36.4° S	26.2° W	22 km
E	37.5° S	27.1° W	29 km
F	36.9° S	26.6° W	8 km
H	39.4° S	27.2° W	4 km
K	37.9° S	26.5° W	9 km
L	38.3° S	26.3° W	11 km
M	37.5° S	25.6° W	7 km
P	35.3° S	28.3° W	78 km

References

1. "Selenocromatica". GAWH. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
2. "Capuanus (crater)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.

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