Mach (crater)

Mach
	LRO image
Coordinates	18°30′N149°18′W / 18.5°N 149.3°W Coordinates: 18°30′N149°18′W / 18.5°N 149.3°W
Diameter	180 km
Depth	Unknown
Colongitude	152° at sunrise
Eponym	Ernst Mach

Last updated August 08, 2019

Oblique Lunar Orbiter 5 view of Mach crater. Mach crater 5028 med.jpg — Oblique Lunar Orbiter 5 view of Mach crater.

Mach is a large lunar impact crater of the class known as a walled plain. It is located on the far side of the Moon and cannot be viewed directly from the Earth. Nearby craters of note include Joule to the northeast, Mitra attached to the western outer rim, and Henyey to the southwest.

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

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.

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.

This is a prominent but eroded formation with multiple craters along the rim and interior. The crater Harvey breaks across the eastern rim, and its outer rampart spills across the interior floor of Mach. The overall shape of Mach resembles a pear, with a prominent outward bulge to the northeast. Such a bulge can be caused by a second, merged crater. The northern edge is also the most worn and overlain by impacts.

Harvey is a lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon from the Earth. It lies astride the eastern rim of the much larger crater Mach, and the outer rampart of Harvey extends part way across the interior floor. Some distance to the north of Harvey is the crater Joule, and equally far to the east-southeast is Kekulé.

The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus Pyrus, in the family Rosaceae, bearing the pomaceous fruit of the same name. Several species of pear are valued for their edible fruit and juices while others are cultivated as trees.

The interior of Mach is marked by several small craters, particularly in the northeastern bulge. Several craters also lie along the edges to the west and northwest. The remainder of the interior floor is relatively level, when compared to the terrain that surrounds Mach. There is a formation of central ridges near the midpoint of the crater.

Terrain or relief involves the vertical and horizontal dimensions of land surface. The term bathymetry is used to describe underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The Latin word terra means "earth."

Mach lies to the northeast of the Dirichlet–Jackson Basin.

The Dirichlet–Jackson Basin is a pre-Nectarian impact basin on the far side of the moon. It is named after the craters Dirichlet and Jackson. It lies to the north of the similar-sized basin Korolev.

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 Mach.

Mach	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
H	14.9° N	144.1° W	40 km

Related Research Articles

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.

Chamberlin is a lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon, just past the southeastern limb. It lies to the southeast of the crater Jeans, and Moulton is attached to the southeastern rim of Chamberlin. This crater is located in a part of the lunar surface that has undergone resurfacing of crater interiors, producing dark-hued crater floors.

Biela is a lunar impact crater that is located in the rugged highlands of the southeastern Moon. It is named after Austrian astronomer Wilhelm von Biela. The crater lies to the east of Rosenberger, to the southeast of the Watt–Steinheil double crater.

Desargues is an ancient lunar impact crater that is located near the northern limb of the Moon, on the western hemisphere. It lies nearly due south of the crater Pascal, and southeast of Brianchon. The proximity of this crater to the limb means that it appears highly elongated due to foreshortening, and it is difficult to discern details from the Earth.

Ellison is a lunar impact crater that lies on the far side of the Moon from the Earth. It is located just beyond the northwest limb of the Moon, to the southwest of the large walled plain Poczobutt. Due west of Ellison is the crater Coulomb.

Birkeland is a lunar impact crater that lies in the southern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. This crater is attached to the central waist of the oddly shaped Van de Graaff crater formation, and may partly account for that crater's figure-8 shape. To the southeast is the large walled plain Leibnitz.

Casatus is a lunar impact crater that is located near the southern limb of the Moon. The north-northeast rim of the crater overlies a portion of the slightly larger crater Klaproth. Along the western rim, Casatus A intrudes somewhat into the interior, producing an inward-bowing rim. To the southeast of Casatus is Newton.

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.

Gerard is a lunar impact crater that lies along the western edge of the Oceanus Procellarum near the northwest limb of the Moon's near side. It is located to the north-northwest of the crater von Braun, and northeast of Bunsen. Because of its location, Gerard appears strongly foreshortened when viewed from the Earth, hindering observation.

Chebyshev is a large lunar impact crater that lies in the southern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. The somewhat smaller crater Langmuir is intruding into the east-southeastern rim of Chebyshev, forming a chain of large craters with Brouwer on Langmuir's eastern rim.

Carnot is a large crater in the northern part of the Moon's far side. It intrudes into the southern rim of the huge walled plain Birkhoff. To the west-southwest of Carnot is the crater Paraskevopoulos.

Charlier is a lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon. To the south-southeast is the larger crater Kovalevskaya, and northeast of Charlier is Perrine.

Henry is a lunar impact crater that is located to the northwest of the larger crater Cavendish, in the southeastern part of the Moon's near side. It was named after the Scottish-American scientist Joseph Henry. Less than a half diameter to the northwest is similar-sized crater Henry Frères, named for the brothers Paul and Prosper Henry.

Henry Frères is a lunar impact crater that is located in the southwestern part of the near side of the Moon. It was named after the brothers Paul Henry and Prosper Henry, French astronomers. It lies just to the west-northwest of the crater Henry, a similar diameter feature. To the west-southwest of Henry Frères is the much larger crater Byrgius. Rays from the satellite crater Byrgius A lie across the floor of this formation, forming a wispy trace from west to east.

Evershed is a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon, named after the English solar astronomer John Evershed. It is located to the northeast of the larger crater Cockcroft, and to the north of the smaller Van den Bergh.

Orlov is a lunar impact crater. It is located on the Moon's far side, to the northeast of the larger crater Leeuwenhoek. To the north-northwest of Orlov is De Vries, and to the east-southeast is Rumford.

Pavlov is a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon, approximately 143 kilometers in diameter. Located just to the north-northeast of it is the crater Levi-Civita while to the southeast is Jules Verne.

Mitra is a lunar impact crater that is attached to the western outer rim of the larger crater Mach, on the far side of the Moon. Just to the west of Mitra is Bredikhin, and to the south-southeast lies Henyey. It is named after Sisir Kumar Mitra.

Strömgren is a lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon from the Earth. It lies less than one crater diameter to the north-northeast of Von der Pahlen. Farther to the east is Gerasimovich, and to the north-northeast is Belopol'skiy.

Tsander is a large lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. Attached to the southeastern outer rim is the younger crater Kibal'chich. To the northwest lies Dirichlet, and to the northeast lies Artem'ev.

References

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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.

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.

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.

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LRO image
Coordinates	18°30′N149°18′W / 18.5°N 149.3°W / 18.5; -149.3 Coordinates: 18°30′N149°18′W / 18.5°N 149.3°W / 18.5; -149.3
Diameter	180 km
Depth	Unknown
Colongitude	152° at sunrise
Eponym	Ernst Mach