Chapman (crater)

Last updated
Chapman
ChapmanCrater.jpg
LRO image
Coordinates 50°24′N100°42′W / 50.4°N 100.7°W / 50.4; -100.7 Coordinates: 50°24′N100°42′W / 50.4°N 100.7°W / 50.4; -100.7
Diameter 71 km
Depth Unknown
Colongitude 101° at sunrise
Eponym Sydney Chapman (mathematician)

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.

Lunar craters

Lunar craters are impact craters on Earth's Moon. The Moon's surface has many craters, almost all of which were formed by impacts.

Impact crater Circular depression on a solid astronomical body formed by a hypervelocity impact of a smaller object

An impact crater is an approximately circular depression in the surface of a planet, moon, or other solid body in the Solar System or elsewhere, formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller body. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact craters typically have raised rims and floors that are lower in elevation than the surrounding terrain. Impact craters range from small, simple, bowl-shaped depressions to large, complex, multi-ringed impact basins. Meteor Crater is a well-known example of a small impact crater on Earth.

Moon Earths natural satellite

Earth's Moon is an astronomical body that orbits the planet and acts as its only permanent natural satellite. It is the fifth-largest satellite in the Solar System, and the largest among planetary satellites relative to the size of the planet that it orbits. The Moon is, after Jupiter's satellite Io, the second-densest satellite in the Solar System among those whose densities are known.

This is an old, eroded crater formation with features that have been softened and worn by impacts until now it just forms a bowl-shaped depression in the surface. The rim is circular in form along most of its perimeter, but has been broken through along the southern edge by Chapman W. There is an unnamed crater-like depression in the surface attached to the southwest rim, and here the edge is low and more narrow than the remaining inner wall.

Several small craters lie along the outer rim and inner wall, with an attached pair forming a cleft in the western rim. There is a slender cleft in the wall along the northwest inner wall that runs from the western rim to the north. The interior floor of the crater is relatively flat and featureless in comparison to the rugged terrain that surrounds the crater, although it is pock-marked by several small impacts in the southeast quadrant.

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 Chapman.

ChapmanLatitudeLongitudeDiameter
D51.4° N96.8° W39 km
M49.0° N100.7° W38 km
V51.0° N103.8° W21 km

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References

Ewen Whitaker British astronomer

Ewen Adair Whitaker was a British-born astronomer who specialized in lunar studies. During World War II he was engaged in quality control for the lead sheathing of hollow cables strung under the English Channel as part of the "Pipe Line Under The Ocean" Project (PLUTO) to supply gasoline to Allied military vehicles in France. After the war, he obtained a position at the Royal Greenwich Observatory working on the UV spectra of stars, but became interested in lunar studies. As a sideline, Whitaker drew and published the first accurate chart of the South Polar area of the Moon in 1954, and served as director of the Lunar Section of the British Astronomical Association.

NASA space-related agency of the United States government

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research.

United States Geological Survey Scientific agency of the United States government

The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The USGS is a fact-finding research organization with no regulatory responsibility.