Leuschner (crater)

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Leuschner
Leuschner crater WAC.jpg
LRO WAC image
Coordinates 1°48′N108°00′W / 1.8°N 108.0°W / 1.8; -108.0 Coordinates: 1°48′N108°00′W / 1.8°N 108.0°W / 1.8; -108.0
Diameter 49 km
Depth Unknown
Colongitude 108° at sunrise
Eponym Armin O. Leuschner
Oblique Lunar Orbiter 5 view of Leuschner (lower left) with Catena Leuschner (row of craters center to upper right), facing west Leuschner crater Catena Leuschner 5015 h1 h2.jpg
Oblique Lunar Orbiter 5 view of Leuschner (lower left) with Catena Leuschner (row of craters center to upper right), facing west

Leuschner is a lunar impact crater that is located on the Moon's far side, to the northwest of the Montes Cordillera. It lies to the north of the crater Grachev, in the outer skirt of ejecta surrounding the Mare Orientale impact basin. This is a circular crater with a rim that has only been lightly eroded by subsequent impacts. Within the interior floor is a central ridge formation.

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.

Moon Earths natural satellite

Earth's Moon is an astronomical body that orbits the planet and acts as its only permanent natural satellite. It is the fifth-largest satellite in the Solar System, and the largest among planetary satellites relative to the size of the planet that it orbits. The Moon is, after Jupiter's satellite Io, the second-densest satellite in the Solar System among those whose densities are known.

Contents

The Catena Leuschner is a crater chain formation that begins at the northern outer rim of Leuschner and runs to the northwest towards the crater Kolhörster. This feature is radial to the Mare Orientale impact, and was likely caused by larger chunks of ejecta during the formation of that feature.

Kolhörster (crater) lunar crater

Kolhörster is a lunar impact crater that is located on the moon's far side. It lies about a crater-diameter to the south-southeast of the crater Kamerlingh Onnes, and to the northeast of the crater Michelson. To the south of Kolhörster is an area marked with crater chains formed from secondary impacts during the creation of the Mare Imbrium impact basin. About one crater-diameter to the southeast is the Catena Leuschner crater chain, while further to the south is Catena Michelson.

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 Leuschner.

LeuschnerLatitudeLongitudeDiameter
L1.1° S108.8° W18 km
Z5.3° N109.3° W18 km

See also

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Chant (crater) lunar crater

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Chadwick (crater) lunar crater

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Hartwig (lunar crater) lunar crater

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Chalonge (crater) lunar crater

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Ellerman (crater) lunar crater

Ellerman is a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. It lies within the outer blanket of ejecta that surrounds the Mare Orientale impact basin, and is located to the west of the Montes Cordillera mountain range. To the northwest of Ellerman is the larger crater Gerasimovich.

Elvey (crater) impact crater

Elvey is a lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon. It is located near the northern edge of the blanket of ejecta that surrounds the Mare Orientale impact basin. To the north of Elvey is the smaller crater Nobel.

Fridman (crater) lunar crater

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Gerasimovich (crater) lunar crater

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Grachev (crater) lunar crater

Grachev is a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. It lies to the northwest of the Mare Orientale impact basin, in the outer skirt of ejecta surrounding the Montes Cordillera mountain ring. Passing along the southwestern edge of Grachev is the Catena Michelson, a valley-like formation composed of a linear chain of small craters. This feature is radial to the Mare Orientale basin. To the north is the crater Leuschner.

Guthnick (crater) lunar crater

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Kearons (crater) lunar crater

Kearons is a small lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon, to the northwest of the Mare Orientale impact basin, in the outer skirt of ejecta that surrounds the Montes Cordillera range. It is a relatively isolated crater, possibly because any nearby features have been buried under the ejecta. Some distance to the south is the crater Lewis, and to the north-northeast lies Grachev.

Stetson (crater) lunar crater

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Lewis (crater) lunar crater

Lewis is a crater on the far side of the Moon. It lies along the western edge of the Montes Cordillera mountains that surround the Mare Orientale impact basin. This crater has been heavily disrupted by the formation of the basin, and it is covered by ejecta from the impact leaving only an uneven depression in the surface. The outer rim is roughly circular, and the interior is uneven.

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.