Coordinates | 14°34′N54°43′E / 14.57°N 54.72°E |
---|---|
Diameter | 23 km |
Depth | 2.4 km |
Colongitude | 306° at sunrise |
Eponym | Jean-Félix Picard |
Picard is a lunar impact crater that lies in Mare Crisium. The crater is named for 17th century French astronomer and geodesist Jean Picard. [1] It is the biggest non-flooded crater of this mare, being slightly larger than Peirce to the north-northwest. To the west is the almost completely flooded crater Yerkes. To east of Picard is the tiny Curtis.
Picard is a crater from the Eratosthenian period, which lasted from 3.2 to 1.1 billion years ago. [2] Inside Picard is a series of terraces that seismologists have attributed to a collapse of the crater floor. It has a cluster of low hills at the bottom. [3]
By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Picard. [4]
Picard | Coordinates | Diameter, km |
---|---|---|
K | 9°44′N54°34′E / 9.73°N 54.56°E | 9 |
L | 10°19′N54°19′E / 10.32°N 54.31°E | 7 |
M | 10°13′N53°57′E / 10.21°N 53.95°E | 8 |
N | 10°31′N53°34′E / 10.52°N 53.57°E | 19 |
P | 8°49′N53°37′E / 8.82°N 53.62°E | 8 |
Y | 13°11′N60°16′E / 13.18°N 60.27°E | 4 |
The following craters have been renamed by the IAU.
Mare Crisium is a lunar mare located in the Moon's Crisium basin, just northeast of Mare Tranquillitatis. Mare Crisium is a basin of Nectarian age.
Copernicus is a lunar impact crater located in eastern Oceanus Procellarum. It was named after the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. It typifies craters that formed during the Copernican period in that it has a prominent ray system. It may have been created by debris from the breakup of the parent body of asteroid 495 Eulalia 800 million years ago.
Aristoteles is a lunar impact crater that lies near the southern edge of the Mare Frigoris and to the east of the Montes Alpes mountain range. It was officially named in 1935 after the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle by the International Astronomical Union, using the classical form of his name.
Bullialdus is a lunar impact crater located in the western part of the Mare Nubium. It was named after French astronomer Ismaël Boulliau. To the north by north-west is the broken-rimmed and lava-flooded crater Lubiniezky. South-west of Bullialdus lies the smaller crater König.
Archimedes is a large lunar impact crater on the eastern edges of the Mare Imbrium. Its diameter is 81 km.
Banting is a small, bowl-shaped lunar impact crater located near the middle of the Mare Serenitatis on the Earth's moon.
Fahrenheit is a tiny lunar impact crater located in the southeast part of the Mare Crisium. This area of the surface is nearly devoid of impact features of interest. To the east are the Dorsa Harker wrinkle ridges, and beyond them is Promontorium Agarum at the edge of the mare. The landing site of the Soviet Luna 24 probe is located about 15 kilometers to the southeast.
Curtis is a very small lunar impact crater that lies in the western Mare Crisium, to the east of the crater Picard. It is a circular, cup-shaped formation that is otherwise undistinguished. It was named after American astronomer Heber D. Curtis in 1973. In the past it was designated Picard Z.
Taruntius is a lunar impact crater on the northwestern edge of Mare Fecunditatis. It was named after ancient Roman philosopher, mathematician and astrologer Lucius Tarutius Firmanus. To the northwest is the lava-flooded crater Lawrence, and to the north lie the craters Watts and da Vinci.
Yerkes is a lunar impact crater near the western edge of Mare Crisium. It was named after American financier Charles Yerkes. To the east of Yerkes is the crater Picard, and farther to the north is Peirce.
Proclus is a young lunar impact crater located to the west of the Mare Crisium, on the east shore of the Palus Somni. Its diameter is 27 km. It was named after 5th century Greek mathematician, astronomer and philosopher Proclus.
Aristillus is a prominent lunar impact crater that lies in the eastern Mare Imbrium. It was named after Greek astronomer Aristyllus. Directly to the south is the smaller crater Autolycus, while to the southwest is the large Archimedes. To the northeast are the craters Theaetetus and Cassini.
Autolycus is a lunar impact crater that is located in the southeast part of Mare Imbrium. The crater is named after the ancient Greek astronomer Autolycus of Pitane. West of the formation is Archimedes, a formation more than double the size of Autolycus. Just to the north is Aristillus, and the outer ramparts of these two craters overlap in the intermediate stretch of the lunar mare.
Greaves is a small lunar impact crater that lies near the southwest edge of Mare Crisium. It is a circular, bowl-shaped formation with a small interior floor at the center of the sloping inner walls. The crater is intruding into the northern edge of the lava-flooded crater Lick. To the northwest is Yerkes, and to the northeast is Picard.
C. Mayer is a lunar impact crater that is located at the northern edge of the Mare Frigoris, due north of the prominent crater Aristoteles. Also to the south, but only a third as distant, is the smaller crater Sheepshanks. Due east of C. Mayer is the flooded crater Kane.
Cayley is a small lunar impact crater that is located in a lava-flooded region to the west of Mare Tranquillitatis. It was named after the 19th-century English mathematician Arthur Cayley. It lies to the northwest of the smaller crater De Morgan and the larger D'Arrest. West and slightly north of Cayley is Whewell, a crater of about the same dimensions. To the north is a linear rille designated Rima Ariadaeus, which follows a course to the east-southeast.
Tebbutt is a lunar impact crater that is located near the southwestern edge of Mare Crisium. It was named after Australian astronomer John Tebbutt. It was formerly designated Picard G before being named by the IAU, and lies south of the crater Picard. To the north of Tebbutt, but farther east than Picard, is the flooded Lick.
Peirce is a small lunar impact crater in the western part of Mare Crisium. That dark, circular lunar mare is located in the east-northeasterly part of the Moon's near side. It was named after the American mathematician Benjamin Peirce. Peirce lies to the north of the craters Yerkes and Picard, and southeast of Macrobius located outside the mare. Just over a crater diameter to the north of Peirce is the smaller Swift. To the northwest is the wrinkle ridge Dorsum Oppel.
Cassini is a lunar impact crater that is located in the Palus Nebularum, at the eastern end of Mare Imbrium. The crater was named after astronomers Giovanni Cassini and Jacques Cassini. To the northeast is the Promontorium Agassiz, the southern tip of the Montes Alpes mountain range. South by south-east of Cassini is the crater Theaetetus. To the northwest is the lone peak Mons Piton.