D'Alembert (crater)

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D'Alembert
Normal d-alembert-clem.jpg
Clementine mosaic
Coordinates 50°48′N163°54′E / 50.8°N 163.9°E / 50.8; 163.9 Coordinates: 50°48′N163°54′E / 50.8°N 163.9°E / 50.8; 163.9
Diameter 248 km
Depth Unknown
Colongitude 201° at sunrise
Eponym Jean d'Alembert
Oblique Lunar Orbiter 5 image, facing west D'Alembert crater 5053 med.jpg
Oblique Lunar Orbiter 5 image, facing west

d'Alembert is a large lunar impact crater located in the northern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon, to the northeast of the somewhat smaller walled plain Campbell. Astride the southwest rim of d'Alembert is Slipher. To the north is the crater Yamamoto, and to the south-southwest lies Langevin. This walled plain has the same diameter as Clavius on the near side, making it one of the largest such formations on the Moon.

As with many lunar walled plains of comparable dimensions, the outer rim of this formation has been worn and battered by subsequent impacts. Besides Slipher, the most notable of these craters is d'Alembert Z intruding into the northern rim. There is also a small crater on the northwest inner wall that has a wide cleft in its eastern side, and a smaller crater along the southeastern inner wall. As eroded as the rim may be, its form can still be readily discerned as a roughly circular ridge line in the lunar terrain.

The interior floor of d'Alembert is a relatively level surface, at least in comparison with the rough terrain that surrounds the crater rim. It is marked with a number of small crater impacts, the largest being d'Alembert G and d'Alembert E toward the eastern rim. In the southwest, the floor is more irregular due to the outer rampart and layers of ejecta from Slipher. A pair of shallow clefts in the floor surface radiate away from this crater, beginning near the midpoint of d'Alembert and reaching half-way toward the inner wall.

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 D'Alembert.

D'AlembertLatitudeLongitudeDiameter
E52.8° N168.2° E22 km
G50.9° N167.5° E18 km
J47.5° N170.4° E20 km
Z55.4° N165.6° E44 km

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Chernyshev (crater) Lunar impact crater

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Chandler (crater) Lunar impact crater

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Slipher (lunar crater)

Slipher is a lunar impact crater, that is located in the northern latitudes on the far side of the Moon. The crater overlies the southwestern outer rim of the much larger walled plain D'Alembert, and it occupies a portion of the interior floor of D'Alembert. To the south-southeast is the crater Langevin.

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