Cleomedes (crater)

Last updated
Cleomedes
Cleomedes crater LROC.jpg
LRO mosaic
Coordinates 27°42′N55°30′E / 27.7°N 55.5°E / 27.7; 55.5 Coordinates: 27°42′N55°30′E / 27.7°N 55.5°E / 27.7; 55.5
Diameter 126 km
Depth 2.7 km
Colongitude 304° at sunrise
Eponym Cleomedes
Oblique Lunar Orbiter 4 image Cleomedes crater 4191 h3.jpg
Oblique Lunar Orbiter 4 image

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. [1] 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.

Contents

The outer wall of Cleomedes is heavily worn and eroded, especially along the southern part of the wall. Cleomedes C lies across the south-southwest rim. The crater floor is nearly flat, with a small central peak to the north of the midpoint, forming a linear ridge toward the north-northeast. There are several notable craterlets on the floor, including a pair of overlapping craters just inside the northwest rim.

A rille named Rima Cleomedes crosses the northern floor, running southeast from the northwest rim. This rille branches in a fork after crossing the crater mid-line. Smaller clefts lie in the southeast part of the floor.

Cleomedes is one of the largest craters of Nectarian age. [2]

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 Cleomedes.

CleomedesLatitudeLongitudeDiameter
A28.9° N55.0° E12 km
B27.2° N55.9° E11 km
C25.7° N54.9° E14 km
D29.3° N61.9° E25 km
E28.6° N54.4° E21 km
F22.6° N56.9° E12 km
G24.0° N57.3° E20 km
H22.4° N57.6° E6 km
J26.9° N56.8° E10 km
L23.8° N54.4° E7 km
M24.2° N51.6° E6 km
N24.8° N52.5° E6 km
P24.8° N56.4° E9 km
Q24.9° N56.9° E4 km
R29.5° N60.2° E15 km
S29.5° N59.0° E8 km
T25.8° N57.7° E11 km

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fracastorius (crater)</span> Crater on the Moon

Fracastorius is the lava-flooded remnant of an ancient lunar impact crater located at the southern edge of Mare Nectaris. To the northwest of this formation lies the crater Beaumont, while to the northeast is Rosse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hesiodus (crater)</span> Crater on the Moon

Hesiodus is a lunar impact crater located on the southern fringes of Mare Nubium, to the northwest of the crater Pitatus. It was named after the ancient Greek poet Hesiod. Starting near the northwest rim of Hesiodus is the wide cleft named Rima Hesiodus. This rille runs 300 km east-southeastward to the Palus Epidemiarum

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ariadaeus (crater)</span> Crater on the Moon

Ariadaeus is a small, bowl-shaped lunar impact crater on the western shores of Mare Tranquillitatis. It lies to the north of the crater Dionysius, and to the west-southwest of Arago. The crater is joined along the northeast rim by the slightly smaller Ariadaeus A, and the two form a double-crater. Its diameter is 10.4 km.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cavendish (crater)</span> Lunar impact crater

Cavendish is a lunar impact crater that is located in the southwest part of the Moon, to the southwest of the larger crater Mersenius. It lies between the smaller craters Henry to the west-northwest and de Gasparis to the east-southeast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delisle (crater)</span> Crater on the Moon

Delisle is a small lunar impact crater in the western part of the Mare Imbrium. It was named after French astronomer Joseph-Nicolas Delisle. It lies to the north of the crater Diophantus, and just to the northwest of the ridge designated Mons Delisle. Between Delisle and Diophantus is a sinuous rille named Rima Diophantus, with a diameter of 150 km. To the northeast is another rille designated Rima Delisle, named after this crater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gärtner (crater)</span> Crater on the Moon

Gärtner is the lava-flooded remnant of a crater in the northeast part of the Moon. It is located on the northern edge of the Mare Frigoris. The southern half of the formation is completely missing, and Gärtner forms a semi-circular basin along the edges of the lunar mare. To the north lies the crater Democritus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goclenius (crater)</span> Crater on the Moon

Goclenius is a lunar impact crater that is located near the west edge of Mare Fecunditatis. It lies to the southeast of the lava-flooded crater Gutenberg, and north of Magelhaens. To the northwest is a parallel rille system that follow a course toward the northwest, running for a length of up to 240 kilometers. This feature is named the Rimae Goclenius.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hippalus (crater)</span> Crater on the Moon

Hippalus is the remnant of a lunar impact crater on the eastern edge of Mare Humorum. It was named after ancient Greek explorer Hippalus. To the southeast is the crater Campanus, and to the northwest is the small flooded crater Loewy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Réaumur (crater)</span> Crater on the Moon

Réaumur is the remains of a lunar impact crater located on the southern edge of Sinus Medii. Its diameter is 51 km. It was named after the 18th century French scientist René de Réaumur. It shares an eroded rim with the similar crater Oppolzer to the northwest. It lies to the northwest of the large walled plain Hipparchus, and east of Flammarion. To the south is Gyldén, and farther to the south-southwest is Ptolemaeus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burckhardt (crater)</span> Lunar impact crater

Burckhardt is a lunar impact crater that is located in the northeast part of the Moon. It lies between the craters Geminus just to the north and Cleomedes to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parry (crater)</span> 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calippus (crater)</span> Crater on the Moon

Calippus is a small lunar impact crater that is located on the eastern edge of the rugged Montes Caucasus mountain range in the northern part of the Moon. It was named after Greek astronomer Callippus of Cyzicus. It lies to the southwest of the crater remnant Alexander, to the northwest of the Mare Serenitatis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belʹkovich (crater)</span> Lunar impact crater

Belʹkovich is a large lunar impact crater of the form termed a walled plain. The formation has been heavily eroded by a history of subsequent impacts, leaving it reshaped, worn, and the features softened and rounded. Belʹkovich is located along the northeastern limb of the Moon, and so its visibility is subject to libration effects. From the Earth this crater is viewed from the side, making it difficult to view it in detail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campanus (crater)</span> Lunar impact crater

Campanus is a lunar impact crater that is located on the southwestern edge of Mare Nubium. It was named after Italian astronomer Campanus of Novara. It forms a crater pair with Mercator just to the southeast. Along the southern rampart of Campanus is the small lunar mare named Palus Epidemiarum. To the southwest is the small crater Dunthorne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capuanus (crater)</span> Lunar impact crater

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. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Firmicus (crater)</span> Crater on the Moon

Firmicus is a lunar impact crater that lies in the eastern part of the Moon's near side, so that from Earth it appears oval in shape due to foreshortening. It is, however, very nearly circular. The crater is located to the west of the Mare Undarum, and northeast of the similar-sized crater Apollonius. To the north of Firmicus are the craters van Albada and Auzout. Attached to its northwest rim is the Lacus Perseverantiae, a miniature lunar mare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damoiseau (crater)</span> 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debes (crater)</span> Crater on the Moon

Debes is a lunar impact crater that is located to the north of the Mare Crisium, in the eastern part of the Moon's near side. It was named after German cartographer Ernst Debes. It lies just to the northwest of the crater Tralles and the prominent Cleomedes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delmotte (crater)</span> Crater on the Moon

Delmotte is a small lunar impact crater that lies just to the east of the much larger crater Cleomedes, and to the north of the Mare Crisium, in the northeastern part of the Moon. Delmotte appears foreshortened when viewed from the Earth, although not sufficiently to obscure the interior details.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eimmart (crater)</span> Lunar impact crater

Eimmart is a lunar impact crater that is located near the east-northeastern limb of the Moon, to the northeast of the Mare Crisium. The northern and eastern outer rim of this crater borders on the narrow Mare Anguis. To the northwest of Eimmart are the smaller crater Delmotte and the prominent Cleomedes.

References

  1. "Cleomedes (crater)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
  2. The geologic history of the Moon. USGS Professional Paper 1348. By Don E. Wilhelms, John F. McCauley, and Newell J. Trask. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington: 1987. Table 9-4.