Coordinates | 14°00′N158°00′W / 14.0°N 158.0°W |
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Diameter | 470 km [1] |
Eponym | Dirichlet and Jackson craters |
The Dirichlet–Jackson Basin is a pre-Nectarian impact basin on the far side of the Moon. It is named after the craters Dirichlet (on the southeast margin) and Jackson (northwest of the basin). It lies to the north of the similar-sized basin Korolev.
The basin is not obvious on the lunar surface due to being obscured by subsequent impacts. It was confirmed by topographic mapping by the Clementine spacecraft in 2000. [1] The existence of the basin was confirmed by the GRAIL spacecraft. [2]
Craters within the basin include Raimond, Bredikhin, Mitra, and Henyey (adjacent to Dirichlet), as well as many satellite craters. Due south of the basin is Engel'gardt (and the Selenean summit). To the southwest are Lebedinskiy and Zhukovskiy, and McMath is to the northwest. To the northeast is Mach, and to the southeast is Tsander.
Mare Orientale is a lunar mare. It is located on the western border of the near side and far side of the Moon, and is difficult to see from an Earthbound perspective. Images from spacecraft have revealed it to be one of the most striking large scale lunar features, resembling a target ring bullseye.
Mare Humorum is a lunar mare. The impact basin it is located in is 425 kilometers (264 mi) across.
Mare Crisium is a lunar mare located in the Moon's Crisium basin, just northeast of Mare Tranquillitatis. Mare Crisium is a basin of Nectarian age.
Mare Tranquillitatis is a lunar mare that sits within the Tranquillitatis basin on the Moon. It is the first location on another celestial body to be visited by humans.
Mare Fecunditatis is a lunar mare in the eastern half of the visible Moon. The mare has a maximum diameter of 840 km.
Mare Moscoviense is a lunar mare that sits in the Moscoviense basin. It is one of the very few maria on the far side of the Moon. Like Mare Marginis, this mare appears to be fairly thin. However, it is clearly centered within a large impact basin. It is also much lower than either the outer basin floor or the farside highlands.
Mare Nectaris is a small lunar mare or sea located south of Mare Tranquillitatis southwest of Mare Fecunditatis, on the near side of the Moon. Montes Pyrenaeus borders the mare to the east and Sinus Asperitatis fuses to its northwestern edge. It is 84,000 square kilometers in size.
Mare Serenitatis is a lunar mare located to the east of Mare Imbrium on the Moon. Its diameter is 674 km (419 mi).
Mare Smythii is a lunar mare located along the equator on the easternmost edge of the Moon's near side. It is named for the 19th-century British astronomer William Henry Smyth. The Smythii basin where the mare is located is of the Pre-Nectarian epoch, while the surrounding features are of the Nectarian system. It is contained within a minimal diameter of 373.97 km, and has been excavated to a depth of 4 km. The mare material, which makes up the floor of the mare, is a low alumina basalt, and consists of Upper Imbrian basalt covered by Eratosthenian basalt. Features observed within the basin include wrinkle ridges, submerged "ghost" craters, domes, crater chains, and rilles.
Grimaldi is a large basin located near the western limb of the Moon. It lies to the southwest of the Oceanus Procellarum, and southeast of the crater Riccioli. Between Oceanus Procellarum is Damoiseau, and to the north is Lohrmann.
Korolev is a large lunar impact crater of the walled plain or basin type. It is a basin of Nectarian age.
Apollo, also called the Apollo basin, is an enormous impact crater located in the southern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. This formation dwarfs the large crater Oppenheimer that is located next to the western rim. The crater Barringer lies across the northern wall. To the southeast is the crater Anders, and Kleymenov is just to the east of the rim.
Hertzsprung is an enormous lunar impact crater, or impact basin, that is located on the far side of the Moon, beyond the western limb. In dimension, this formation is larger than several of the lunar mare areas on the near side. It lies in the northwestern fringe of the blast radius of the Mare Orientale impact basin. Nearby craters of note include Michelson across the northeast rim, Vavilov across the western rim, and Lucretius to the southeast.
Dirichlet is a lunar impact crater that is located on the Moon's far side. It is attached to the southern outer rim of the crater Henyey. To the south-southeast is the much larger crater Tsander.
Tsander is a large lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. Attached to the southeastern outer rim is the younger crater Kibal'chich. To the northwest lies Dirichlet, and to the northeast lies Artem'ev.
The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) was an American lunar science mission in NASA's Discovery Program which used high-quality gravitational field mapping of the Moon to determine its interior structure. The two small spacecraft GRAIL A (Ebb) and GRAIL B (Flow) were launched on 10 September 2011 aboard a single launch vehicle: the most-powerful configuration of a Delta II, the 7920H-10. GRAIL A separated from the rocket about nine minutes after launch, GRAIL B followed about eight minutes later. They arrived at their orbits around the Moon 25 hours apart. The first probe entered orbit on 31 December 2011 and the second followed on 1 January 2012. The two spacecraft impacted the Lunar surface on December 17, 2012.
The Freundlich-Sharonov Basin is a Pre-Nectarian impact basin on the far side of the Moon. It is named after the younger craters Freundlich near the northwest margin and Sharonov near the southwest margin. It lies east of Mare Moscoviense basin and northwest of Korolev basin.
The Schiller-Zucchius Basin is a Pre-Nectarian impact basin on the near side of the Moon. It is named after the elongated crater Schiller at the northeast margin and fresh crater Zucchius near the southwest margin. This basin has received the unofficial designation 'Schiller Annular Plain' among lunar observers.
The Mendel-Ryberg Basin is a Nectarian impact basin on the southwestern limb of the moon. It is named after the crater Mendel on the west margin and the smaller crater Rydberg north of the center of the basin. The basin is due south of the larger, younger Orientale basin, and ejecta and other geomorphological effects from the younger basin have overprinted the older one.
The Coulomb-Sarton Basin is a Pre-Nectarian impact basin on the far side of the Moon. It is named after the crater Coulomb northeast of the center of the basin and the smaller crater Sarton just south of the center. The basin is not obvious on the lunar surface. There are only small fragments of inner rings and a rim, and the most indicative topographic feature is a smooth, low plain at the center.