Gardner (crater)

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Gardner
Gardner crater AS17-M-1216.jpg
Apollo 17 Mapping Camera image
Coordinates 17°42′N33°48′E / 17.7°N 33.8°E / 17.7; 33.8
Diameter 18 km
Depth 3.0 km
Colongitude 327° at sunrise
Eponym Irvine C. Gardner
Oblique view from Apollo 15 Gardner crater AS15-P-9285.jpg
Oblique view from Apollo 15
The Gardner Megadome, from Apollo 17 Gardner Megadome AS17-M-0307.jpg
The Gardner Megadome, from Apollo 17

Gardner is a small lunar impact crater in the northeast part of the Moon. It was named after an American physicist Irvine Clifton Gardner in 1976. [1] It lies due east of the crater Vitruvius, in a section of rough terrain north of the Mare Tranquillitatis. Gardner was previously designated Vitruvius A before being given its present name by the IAU. To the northeast of Gardner is the larger crater Maraldi.

Contents

It is a circular crater with sloping inner walls and an interior floor that occupies about half the total crater diameter. The southern half of the floor has a slight rise before reaching the inner wall. The crater is not significantly eroded, and the outer rim is relatively sharp and well-defined. The most distinctive feature is a row of four rounded hills along the northern floor of the crater.

To the south is an elevated area unofficially known as the Gardner Megadome. [2] In the vicinity of the dome are satellite craters including Vitruvius B, H, and T, and Maraldi D.

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References

  1. "Gardner (crater)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
  2. The Lamont - Gardner Megadome Alignment: A Lunar Volcano-Tectonic Structure? Charles A. Wood, with images by Wes Higgins, KC Pau and Giorgio Mengoli, Managua Office, Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85719. PDF