Kinau (crater)

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Kinau

Kinau crater 4094 h3.jpg

Coordinates 60°48′S15°06′E / 60.8°S 15.1°E / -60.8; 15.1 Coordinates: 60°48′S15°06′E / 60.8°S 15.1°E / -60.8; 15.1
Diameter 42 km
Depth 2.0 km
Colongitude 346° at sunrise
Eponym Adolph Gottfried Kinau

Kinau is a small, eroded lunar impact crater that is located in the low southern latitudes of the Moon. It lies to the southeast of the crater Jacobi, and about equally far to the north-northwest of Pentland. It is 42 kilometers in diameter and two kilometers deep. It may be from the Pre-Nectarian period, 4.55 to 3.85 billion years ago. [1]

Lunar craters craters on Earths moon

Lunar craters are impact craters on Earth's Moon. The Moon's surface has many craters, almost all of which were formed by impacts.

Impact crater Circular depression on a solid astronomical body formed by a hypervelocity impact of a smaller object

An impact crater is an approximately circular depression in the surface of a planet, moon, or other solid body in the Solar System or elsewhere, formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller body. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact craters typically have raised rims and floors that are lower in elevation than the surrounding terrain. Impact craters range from small, simple, bowl-shaped depressions to large, complex, multi-ringed impact basins. Meteor Crater is a well-known example of a small impact crater on Earth.

Latitude The angle between zenith at a point and the plane of the equator

In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the north–south position of a point on the Earth's surface. Latitude is an angle which ranges from 0° at the Equator to 90° at the poles. Lines of constant latitude, or parallels, run east–west as circles parallel to the equator. Latitude is used together with longitude to specify the precise location of features on the surface of the Earth. On its own, the term latitude should be taken to be the geodetic latitude as defined below. Briefly, geodetic latitude at a point is the angle formed by the vector perpendicular to the ellipsoidal surface from that point, and the equatorial plane. Also defined are six auxiliary latitudes which are used in special applications.

Contents

The northwestern rim and inner wall of this crater has been heavily damaged by impacts, and is overlaid by a pair of small, cup-shaped craters. The remainder of the rim is worn and somewhat distorted into a hexagonal shape, with several small craterlets along the rim edge. The inner walls are relatively low, and the interior floor is almost featureless except for a few tiny craterlets. There is a low rise near the midpoint that is attached to the small crater to the northwest. [2]

Hexagon shape with six sides

In geometry, a hexagon is a six-sided polygon or 6-gon. The total of the internal angles of any simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°.

The crater is named after 19th century German priest, teacher and amateur astronomer Adolph Gottfried Kinau. [3]

Germany Federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe

Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central and Western Europe, lying between the Baltic and North Seas to the north, and the Alps to the south. It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, France to the southwest, and Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands to the west.

AdolphGottfried Kinau was a German Protestant minister and astronomer.

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 Kinau. [4]

Kinau LatitudeLongitudeDiameter
A62.1° S20.0° E35 km
B61.6° S19.2° E8 km
C60.6° S20.5° E30 km
D60.6° S18.5° E27 km
E60.1° S20.0° E7 km
F62.1° S13.5° E10 km
G61.5° S12.7° E25 km
H59.8° S19.7° E6 km
J59.6° S16.0° E5 km
K58.6° S18.1° E10 km
L59.3° S18.8° E11 km
M60.4° S14.3° E12 km
N61.4° S15.5° E7 km
P61.4° S17.4° E5 km
Q62.4° S21.1° E11 km
R59.9° S11.6° E61 km

Notes

  1. ^ The botanist C.A. Kinau was struck from the official list of the USGS in April 2007 and replaced by the correct eponym Adolph Gottfried Kinau. [3]

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Licetus (crater)

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Faye (crater) lunar crater

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Rosenberger (crater)

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References

  1. ↑ Autostar Suite Astronomer Edition. CD-ROM. Meade, April 2006.
  2. ↑ Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN   0-913135-17-8.
  3. 1 2 R.A. Garfinkle and B. Pfeiffer: "Discovery of the real person behind the name of the lunar crater Kinau", Journal of the British Astronomical Association 117 (2007) 81
  4. ↑ Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   0-521-81528-2.
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