Debye (crater)

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Debye
Debye crater LROC.jpg
LRO image
Coordinates 49°26′N176°02′E / 49.43°N 176.03°E / 49.43; 176.03
Diameter 127.03 km (78.93 mi)
Depth Unknown
Colongitude 179° at sunrise
Eponym Peter Debye
Oblique Lunar Orbiter 5 image, facing west Debye crater 5053 h2.jpg
Oblique Lunar Orbiter 5 image, facing west

Debye is a lunar impact crater that is located in the northern hemisphere on the Moon's far side, as seen from the Earth. It lies to the south of the crater Chappell, to the southwest of the walled plain Rowland, and to the east of D'Alembert.

Contents

The outer rim of this crater has been heavily battered by impacts, and is somewhat distorted from the form of a circle. The northeast rim in particular has become straightened by impact modification, and the crater rim as a whole has a roughly polygonal shape. The southern rim is overlaid by the smaller crater Perkin. The most heavily eroded section of the rim is along the northeast, where a cluster of overlapping craters intrudes into the side. The western rim is notched and indented by several small impacts.

The crater interior is nearly as battered as the outer rim. The outer rampart of Perkin intrudes part way across the southern floor. Parts of remaining interior have been bombarded and churned by impacts, leaving an irregular surface that is nearly as rough as the terrain that surrounds the crater. The most recent of these impacts is a small, cup-shaped crater just to the southwest of the midpoint.

The crater was formally named by the IAU in 1970 after Dutch physicist Peter Debye. [1]

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 Debye.

DebyeLatitudeLongitudeDiameter
E50.4° N171.0° W41 km
J48.4° N172.6° W30 km
Q47.5° N178.4° W26 km

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References

  1. Debye, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)