Meitner (lunar crater)

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Meitner
Meitner crater 2196 med.jpg
Coordinates 10°30′S112°42′E / 10.5°S 112.7°E / -10.5; 112.7 Coordinates: 10°30′S112°42′E / 10.5°S 112.7°E / -10.5; 112.7
Diameter 87 km
Depth Unknown
Colongitude 248° at sunrise
Eponym Lise Meitner
Oblique Apollo 17 Mapping Camera image, facing south Meitner crater AS17-M-1592.jpg
Oblique Apollo 17 Mapping Camera image, facing south
The interior of Meitner from Apollo 8 Meitner crater interior as08-12-2142hr.jpg
The interior of Meitner from Apollo 8

Meitner is an impact crater on the far side of the Moon, behind the eastern limb. It lies to the northwest of the crater Kondratyuk, and about a crater diameter to the west of Langemak.

Contents

This crater has relatively well-defined features that have not been significantly eroded by subsequent impacts. The rim edge is roughly circular, with a slight outward bulge along the southern edge. The small satellite crater Meitner C lies across the rim and inner wall to the northeast. Sections of the inner wall display terrace features. The interior floor of Meitner is relatively level, with a small craterlet just to the southwest of the midpoint and another along the northwest inner wall.

Apollo 8, the first crewed mission to orbit the moon, happened to fly directly over Meitner (among many other craters) and obtained high-resolution photographs of the interior.

Prior to formal naming by the IAU in 1970, [1] Meitner was called Crater 276. [2]

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 Meitner.

MeitnerLatitudeLongitudeDiameter
A8.1° S113.5° E17 km
C9.7° S113.7° E19 km
H11.9° S116.0° E13 km
J12.1° S115.1° E15 km
R12.0° S109.4° E16 km

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Chauvenet (crater) lunar impact crater

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Dobrovolʹskiy (crater)

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Planté (crater)

Planté is a lunar crater that is situated near the eastern inner wall of the much larger crater Keeler. Just to the east, attached to the exterior of Keeler, is the large crater Heaviside. Planté is located on the far side of the Moon and cannot be viewed directly from the Earth.

Kondratyuk (crater)

Kondratyuk is a worn crater on the Moon's far side. It is located to the west-northwest of the large walled plain Fermi, and to the northeast of the crater Hilbert. To the north-northwest is Meitner, and to the northeast lies Langemak.

Langemak (crater)

Langemak is a prominent impact crater on the far side of the Moon. It is located less than one crater diameter west-northwest of Danjon, and nearly due east of Meitner. To the southwest of Langemak is Kondratyuk. Langemak partly overlies the larger and older crater Langemak N. This feature is also attached to the northeastern rim of Kondratyuk.

References

  1. Meitner, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)
  2. Lunar Farside Chart (LFC-1A), 2nd Edition October 1967