Fechner (crater)

Last updated
Fechner
Normal fechner-clem1.jpg
Clementine mosaic with Fechner at center. Fechner T is the small bright crater at left.
Coordinates 59°00′S124°54′E / 59.0°S 124.9°E / -59.0; 124.9 Coordinates: 59°00′S124°54′E / 59.0°S 124.9°E / -59.0; 124.9
Diameter 63 km
Depth Unknown
Colongitude 237° at sunrise
Eponym Gustav T. Fechner
Apollo 8 photographed Fechner from a distance. Fechner T is the bright crater above center. Fechner crater AS08-12-2192.jpg
Apollo 8 photographed Fechner from a distance. Fechner T is the bright crater above center.

Fechner is a lunar impact crater that lies on the far side of the Moon's southern hemisphere, attached to the western rim of the large walled plain Planck. The eastern rim of Fechner intersects the Vallis Planck, a long, wide cleft in the surface that follows a course to the north-northwest. This valley intrudes into the southeastern rim of the crater, then continues northwards from the periphery of the northeast rim.

Contents

Attached to the western rim of Fechner is Fechner T, a small, bowl-shaped crater with a relatively high albedo ray system. This satellite crater is surrounded by a blanket of light-hued ejecta that spills across the southwestern half of Fechner's interior floor. The crater rim of Fechner is relatively worn and eroded, with the eastern half of the rim reshaped due to the valley and proximity to Planck. The interior floor is marked by several small craters.

The crater is named after Gustav Theodor Fechner, a German physicist, psychologist, and philosopher (1801-1887). The name was approved by the IAU in 1970. [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 Fechner.

FechnerLatitudeLongitudeDiameter
T59.1° S122.9° E14 km

Related Research Articles

Ammonius (crater) lunar crater

Ammonius is a bowl-shaped lunar impact crater with a slightly raised rim. It is located on the floor of the walled plain Ptolemaeus, about 30 kilometers northeast of the crater midpoint.

Born (crater) lunar crater

Born is a small lunar impact crater located near the eastern edge of the Moon, to the northeast of the prominent crater Langrenus. It was previously designated Maclaurin Y before being named by the IAU in 1979. Maclaurin itself lies to the north.

Artamonov (crater) lunar crater

Artamonov is a lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon. The eroded outer rim of Artamonov does not have the circular shape of most lunar craters, and instead has the overall shape of three or four merged craters. The largest of these formations is in the south, with smaller circular bulges to the north and east.

Atwood (crater) lunar crater

Atwood is a small earth moon impact crater that is located on the Mare Fecunditatis, to the northwest of the prominent crater Langrenus. It forms a triple-crater formation with Naonobu attached to the north rim and Bilharz near the west rim.

Schrödinger (crater) A large lunar impact crater of the form traditionally called a walled plain

Schrödinger is a large lunar impact crater of the form traditionally called a walled plain and is named after Erwin Schrödinger. It is located near the south lunar pole on the far side of the Moon, and can only be viewed from orbit. The smaller crater Ganswindt is attached to the southwestern rim of Schrödinger, and intrudes slightly into the inner wall. Adjacent to the south is the crater Nefed'ev. Farther to the southwest is the crater Amundsen.

Back (crater) lunar crater

Back is a small lunar impact crater that is located near the eastern limb of the Moon. It lies on the northwest edge of the Mare Smythii, and the northeast rim is adjacent to the crater Schubert. To the west is Jenkins, and to the southwest is the Weierstrass–Van Vleck crater pair.

Beals (crater) lunar crater

Beals is a lunar impact crater that is located near the eastern limb of the Moon, and lies across the southwestern rim of the crater Riemann. From the Earth the crater is viewed nearly from on edge, and is best seen during favorable librations. To the west is the large walled plain Gauss.

Becquerel (lunar crater) impact crater on the moon

Becquerel is a lunar impact crater that lies in the northern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. This is an ancient and heavily worn formation that is now little more than an irregular buri in the surface. The outer rim has been worn and reshaped until it forms a rugged, mountainous region around the flatter interior.

Van Wijk is a small lunar impact crater that lies in the southern part of the far side of the Moon. It is located to the north-northwest of the huge walled plain Schrödinger, and to the southwest of the crater Fechner.

Cusanus (crater) Lunar crater

Cusanus is a lunar impact crater that is located near the northeastern limb of the Moon. In this location the crater appears very foreshortened when observed from the Earth, and its visibility is affected by libration. The northern rim of Cusanus is nearly joined to the south-southeastern rim of the larger crater Petermann. To the west is Baillaud and to the southeast is Hayn.

Damoiseau (crater) 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.

Chrétien (crater) impact crater

Chrétien is a lunar impact crater that is located in the southern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon from the Earth. It lies due south of the Mare Ingenii, one of the few maria on the Moon's far side. The crater lies in the midpoint between the craters Garavito to the west-southwest and Oresme to the east-northeast, both of these being somewhat smaller than Chrétien.

Crocco (crater) impact crater

Crocco is a lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon from the Earth. It is located to the northeast of the huge walled plain Planck, and northwest of the equally huge Poincaré. Just to the north, within one crater diameter, is the crater Koch.

Davisson (crater) lunar crater

Davisson is a lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon from the Earth. This crater lies across the eastern rim of the huge walled plain Leibnitz, and the rim and outer rampart intrudes into the interior floor of Leibnitz. To the east-northeast of Davisson is the walled plain Oppenheimer, a formation only somewhat smaller than Leibnitz.

Planck (crater) lunar crater

Planck is a large lunar impact crater, approximately 319 kilometers in diameter, that is located in the southern hemisphere of the Moon, on the far side as seen from the Earth. It lies to the west of the walled plain Poincaré, another enormous formation only slightly larger than Planck. Both formations are larger than the walled plain Bailly, the largest crater on the near side. Lying across the southeast rim of Planck is the crater Prandtl, to the northeast is Hildegard, and to the west is Fechner.

Kimura (crater) Lunar crater

Kimura is a small impact crater that is located on the Moon's far side, beyond the southeastern limb. It lies to the west-northwest of the crater Fechner, along the northeastern rim of an unnamed basin in the surface.

Einthoven (crater) impact crater

Einthoven is a lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon. It is located beyond the region of the surface that is sometimes brought into view due to libration, and so can not be viewed from the Earth. Einthoven is located to the northeast of the huge walled plain Pasteur.

FitzGerald (crater) impact crater

FitzGerald is a large lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. It lies to the west-southwest of the crater Cockcroft, and about two crater diameters to the northeast of Morse.

Fleming (crater) lunar crater

Fleming is a large lunar impact crater that is located on the Moon's far side, and cannot be seen from the Earth. It lies about a crater diameter to the east-northeast of Hertz, and to the northwest of Lobachevskiy.

Florensky (crater) lunar crater

Florensky is a lunar impact crater that is attached to the northeastern rim of the larger crater Vernadskiy. It is located on the far side of the Moon and cannot be directly seen from the Earth. The rim of this crater has been heavily eroded and it forms an irregular ring about the uneven interior. This crater was previously identified as Vernadskiy B before being assigned a name by the IAU in 1985.

References

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

Bibliography