Pallas (crater)

Pallas
	Lunar Orbiter 4 image
Coordinates	5°30′N1°36′W / 5.5°N 1.6°W
Diameter	50 km
Depth	1.3 km
Colongitude	2° at sunrise
Eponym	Peter Simon Pallas

Last updated August 22, 2024

Pallas is a heavily eroded lunar impact crater located to the north of the Sinus Medii. It was named after the German-born Russian natural historian Peter Simon Pallas.^[1] To the northwest is the smaller but less worn crater Bode. Pallas shares a low wall with the crater Murchison that is attached to the southeast, and there are two gaps in the shared rim.

Lunar flare

On November 15, 1953, the physician and amateur astronomer Dr. Leon H. Stuart took a picture of the Moon that appeared to show a flare of light about 16 km southeast of Pallas. The flare was estimated to last for about 8–10 seconds. The report was published in a 1956 issue of The Strolling Astronomer, a newsletter. However the incident was dismissed by professionals of the period as more likely a meteoroid entering the Earth's atmosphere.

Many years later Dr. Bonnie Buratti of JPL saw the photograph and decided to investigate. Assisted by a graduate student, she identified a 1.5 km. diameter crater imaged by the Clementine spacecraft. The crater has the correct size, shape, and albedo to match the expected impact energy. Some astronomers now agree that Dr. Stuart may indeed have photographed an asteroid impact on the Moon.^[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 Pallas.

Pallas	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
A	6.0° N	2.3° W	11 km
B	4.2° N	2.6° W	4 km
C	4.5° N	1.1° W	6 km
D	2.4° N	2.6° W	4 km
E	4.0° N	1.4° W	26 km
F	3.4° N	1.3° W	18 km
H	4.6° N	1.5° W	5 km
N	7.0° N	0.5° E	6 km
V	1.7° N	1.5° W	3 km
W	3.6° N	1.3° W	3 km
X	5.2° N	3.2° W	3 km

Related Research Articles

Arzachel is a relatively young lunar impact crater located in the highlands in the south-central part of the visible Moon, close to the zero meridian. It lies to the south of the crater Alphonsus, and together with Ptolemaeus further north the three form a prominent line of craters to the east of Mare Nubium. The smaller Alpetragius lies to the northwest, and Thebit is to the southwest along the edge of the mare.

Janssen is an ancient impact crater located in the highland region near the southeastern lunar limb. The entire structure has been heavily worn and is marked by many lesser crater impacts. The outer wall is breached in multiple locations, but the outline of the crater rim can still be observed. The wall forms a distinctive hexagonal shape upon the rugged lunar surface, with a slight curvature at the vertices.

Daniell is a lunar impact crater located in the southern half of the Lacus Somniorum. To the south-southeast is the much larger crater Posidonius. The Rimae Daniell rille system are to the west of Daniell crater.

Menelaus is a young lunar impact crater located on the southern shore of Mare Serenitatis near the eastern end of the Montes Hæmus mountain range. Its diameter is 27 km. To the southwest is the small crater Auwers, and to the west-southwest is the even smaller Daubrée. To the northeast is a faint rille system named the Rimae Menelaus.

Marth is a small lunar impact crater located in the northwest part of the Palus Epidemiarum. It was named after German astronomer Albert Marth. To the northwest is the crater Dunthorne, and to the southwest lies Ramsden. This feature lies in a system of rilles named the Rimae Ramsden, and an interrupted branch passes only a few kilometers to the south of the rim.

Murchison is a lunar impact crater on the north edge of the Sinus Medii. It was named in honour of the geologist Sir Roderick Murchison. It shares a section of rim with the crater Pallas. To the southeast on the mare is the circular crater Chladni, and to the northeast is Ukert. Farther to the east is the prominent Triesnecker. Murchison lies astride the lunar zenith line, i.e. the starting longitude of the selenographic coordinate system.

Alpetragius is a lunar impact crater located on the eastern edge of Mare Nubium, to the southwest of the much larger crater Alphonsus. In the southeast is the prominent crater Arzachel, and to the west lies the flooded Lassell. Alpetragius is a Latinization of the name of Nur ad-Din al-Bitruji, a Spanish-Arab astronomer.

Burnham is a small crater located to the southeast of the crater Albategnius, in a relatively smooth area of the lunar surface. It was named after American astronomer Sherburne W. Burnham. To the southwest is Vogel.

Bode is a small crater located near the central region of the Moon, to the northwest of the joined craters Pallas and Murchison. It lies on a region of raised surface between the Mare Vaporum to the northeast, Sinus Aestuum to the west, and Sinus Medii to the southeast. The crater was named after German astronomer Johann Elert Bode.

Gassendi is a large lunar impact crater feature located at the northern edge of Mare Humorum. It was named after French astronomer Pierre Gassendi. The formation has been inundated by lava during the formation of the mare, so only the rim and the multiple central peaks remain above the surface. The outer rim is worn and eroded, although it retains a generally circular form. A smaller crater – Gassendi A – intrudes into the northern rim, and joins a rough uplift at the northwest part of the floor. The crater pair bear a curious resemblance to a diamond ring.

Triesnecker is a prominent lunar impact crater that is located in the Sinus Medii, near the central part of the Moon's near side. Its diameter is 25 km. It was named after Austrian astronomer Franz de Paula Triesnecker. It is located to the north-northwest of the crater Rhaeticus, and to the east-southeast of the flooded Murchison.

Boscovich is a lunar impact crater that has been almost completely eroded away by subsequent impacts. It is located west-northwest of the crater Julius Caesar, and south-southeast of the prominent Manilius. The crater floor has a low albedo, and the dark hue makes it relatively easy to recognize. The surface is crossed by the rille system designated Rimae Boscovich that extends for a diameter of 40 kilometres. The crater is named after Croatian physicist Roger Joseph Boscovich.

Dionysius is a lunar impact crater that lies on the western edge of the Mare Tranquillitatis. It was named after Dionysius the Areopagite. To the southeast is the crater pair of Ritter and Sabine. Just to the northwest is the system of rilles designated Rimae Ritter. These clefts follow a generally northwest direction.

Littrow is a lunar impact crater that is located in the northeastern part of the Moon's near side, on the east edge of Mare Serenitatis. Its diameter is 29 km. The crater is named after Bohemian astronomer Joseph Johann von Littrow (1781–1840). Some distance to the northeast is the prominent crater Römer, while to the south is Vitruvius.

Sosigenes is a lunar impact crater on the west edge of Mare Tranquillitatis. Its diameter is 17 km. It was named after ancient Greek astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria. It lies to the east of the large walled plain Julius Caesar. The crater rim has a high albedo, making it relatively bright. It has a small central rise at the midpoint of the floor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sulpicius Gallus (crater)</span> Crater on the Moon

Sulpicius Gallus is a small, bowl-shaped lunar impact crater that lies near the southwestern edge of the Mare Serenitatis. The crater is named after the 2nd century BC Roman astronomer Gaius Sulpicius Gallus.

Bürg is a prominent lunar impact crater in the northeast part of the Moon. It lies within the lava-flooded, ruined crater formation designated Lacus Mortis. To the south and southeast is the crater pair Plana and Mason. To the west, beyond the rim of Lacus Mortis, is the prominent crater Eudoxus.

Capuanus is a lunar impact crater that lies along the southern edge of the Palus Epidemiarum. It was named after Italian astronomer F. Capuano di Manfredonia. The outer rim is eroded and indented by lesser crater impacts, with notches in the north, west, and southern parts of the rim. The interior floor has been resurfaced by basaltic lava, which is connected to the surrounding lunar mare by a narrow, crater-formed gap in the northern rim. Dotting the floor of the crater are a number of domes, which are believed to have formed through volcanic activity.

Dunthorne is a small lunar impact crater that is located to the northwest of the small lunar mare called Palus Epidemiarum, in the southwest part of the Moon's near side. It was named after British astronomer Richard Dunthorne. It lies to the southwest of the crater Campanus, east of Vitello. Due south is Ramsden.

Repsold is a lunar impact crater that is located at the western end of the Oceanus Procellarum. It lies to the northeast of the crater Galvani and southeast of the walled plain Volta. Due to its proximity to the northwestern limb of the Moon, this crater appears highly foreshortened when viewed from the Earth. It is named after Johann Georg Repsold, a German astronomer.

References

1 2 "Pallas (crater)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
↑ Buratti, B. J.; Johnson, L. L. (2003). "Identification of the lunar flash of 1953 with a fresh crater on the Moon's surface". Icarus. 161 (1): 192–197. Bibcode:2003Icar..161..192B. doi:10.1016/S0019-1035(02)00027-1.

Andersson, L. E.; Whitaker, E. A. (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097.
Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81528-4.
Cocks, Elijah E.; Cocks, Josiah C. (1995). Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature. Tudor Publishers. ISBN 978-0-936389-27-1.
McDowell, Jonathan (July 15, 2007). "Lunar Nomenclature". Jonathan's Space Report . Retrieved 2007-10-24.
Menzel, D. H.; Minnaert, M.; Levin, B.; Dollfus, A.; Bell, B. (1971). "Report on Lunar Nomenclature by the Working Group of Commission 17 of the IAU". Space Science Reviews. 12 (2): 136–186. Bibcode:1971SSRv...12..136M. doi:10.1007/BF00171763. S2CID 122125855.
Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-304-35469-6.
Price, Fred W. (1988). The Moon Observer's Handbook. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-33500-3.
Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 978-0-913135-17-4.
Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes (6th revised ed.). Dover. ISBN 978-0-486-20917-3.
Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-62248-6.
Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer. ISBN 978-1-85233-193-1.

External links

Pallas at The Moon Wiki
Wood, Chuck (November 2, 2006). "Move Over Orbiter". Lunar Photo of the Day. Archived from the original on June 14, 2011.
Wood, Chuck (August 12, 2006). "Rimae Weird". Lunar Photo of the Day. Archived from the original on June 14, 2011. - also appeared on the August 24, 2004 LPOD
Wood, Chuck (April 24, 2006). "Rubbly Lineations". Lunar Photo of the Day. Archived from the original on June 14, 2011.
Wood, Chuck (April 8, 2010). "Textured Ejecta". Lunar Photo of the Day. - Rimae Bode, also includes Pallas crater

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[gpn4560-1] 1 2 "Pallas (crater)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.

[2] Buratti, B. J.; Johnson, L. L. (2003). "Identification of the lunar flash of 1953 with a fresh crater on the Moon's surface". Icarus. 161 (1): 192–197. Bibcode:2003Icar..161..192B. doi:10.1016/S0019-1035(02)00027-1.

[1]

[2]

Lunar Orbiter 4 image
Coordinates	5°30′N1°36′W / 5.5°N 1.6°W / 5.5; -1.6 ^[1]
Diameter	50 km
Depth	1.3 km
Colongitude	2° at sunrise
Eponym	Peter Simon Pallas