Lagrange (crater)

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Lagrange
Coordinates 32°18′S72°48′W / 32.3°S 72.8°W / -32.3; -72.8 Coordinates: 32°18′S72°48′W / 32.3°S 72.8°W / -32.3; -72.8
Diameter 225 km
Depth 2.7 km
Colongitude 75° at sunrise
Eponym Joseph L. Lagrange

Lagrange is a lunar impact crater that is attached to the northwestern rim of the crater Piazzi. It lies near the southwestern limb of the Moon, and the appearance is oblong due to foreshortening. To the northwest of this feature is the Montes Cordillera, a ring-shaped mountain range that surrounds the immense Mare Orientale impact basin.

Lunar craters

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.

Piazzi is an impact crater that is located near the southwestern limb of the Moon, and is attached to the southeastern rim of the walled plain Lagrange. About three crater diameters to the south is the crater Inghirami. Piazzi is seen at an oblique angle from the Earth, and it appears oblong due to foreshortening.

The southwestern half of this walled plain has been heavily damaged by the mass of ejecta from Mare Orientale. This material forms an irregular striation in the surface that is radial to the Mare Orientale basin. As a result, only the northeast part of the crater is somewhat intact; the remainder just forms an uneven depression in the surface that is covered in long ridges and gouges. The most notable feature in this section is the small bowl-shaped crater Lagrange D.

The surviving section of the rim is worn and eroded, forming an arc-shaped range of low ridges in the surface. The interior floor in this section is relatively level, but even this surface contains traces of the Mare Orientale ejecta.

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 Lagrange.

LagrangeLatitudeLongitudeDiameter
A32.5° S69.2° W6 km
B31.4° S61.5° W16 km
C29.8° S64.9° W23 km
D34.9° S72.5° W11 km
E29.1° S72.6° W46 km
F32.8° S67.4° W14 km
G28.5° S62.7° W18 km
H29.5° S66.2° W11 km
J34.0° S68.9° W8 km
K30.7° S70.3° W31 km
L32.1° S65.1° W18 km
N32.1° S73.8° W31 km
R31.3° S76.5° W130 km
S33.9° S74.6° W12 km
T33.0° S62.6° W12 km
W33.0° S63.7° W56 km
X28.7° S69.2° W9 km
Y28.2° S68.4° W16 km
Z32.6° S64.6° W13 km

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Inghirami (crater)

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Hartwig (lunar crater) lunar crater

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Graff (lunar crater) lunar crater

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Guthnick (crater) lunar crater

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Sundman (crater) lunar crater

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Leuschner (crater) lunar crater

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Lewis (crater) lunar crater

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References

Ewen Whitaker British astronomer

Ewen Adair Whitaker was a British-born astronomer who specialized in lunar studies. During World War II he was engaged in quality control for the lead sheathing of hollow cables strung under the English Channel as part of the "Pipe Line Under The Ocean" Project (PLUTO) to supply gasoline to Allied military vehicles in France. After the war, he obtained a position at the Royal Greenwich Observatory working on the UV spectra of stars, but became interested in lunar studies. As a sideline, Whitaker drew and published the first accurate chart of the South Polar area of the Moon in 1954, and served as director of the Lunar Section of the British Astronomical Association.

NASA space-related agency of the United States government

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research.

United States Geological Survey Scientific agency of the United States government

The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The USGS is a fact-finding research organization with no regulatory responsibility.