Plana (crater)

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Plana
Plana crater 4086 h2.jpg
Coordinates 42°12′N28°12′E / 42.2°N 28.2°E / 42.2; 28.2 Coordinates: 42°12′N28°12′E / 42.2°N 28.2°E / 42.2; 28.2
Diameter 44 km
Depth 1.0 km
Colongitude 332° at sunrise
Eponym Giovanni A. A. Plana
Location of the lunar crater Plana as photographed at the McDonald Observatory Crater Plana.jpg
Location of the lunar crater Plana as photographed at the McDonald Observatory

Plana is a lunar impact crater that lies on the boundary between two small lunar mare areas, with Lacus Mortis to the north and the larger Lacus Somniorum on the southern side. It was named after Italian astronomer Giovanni Antonio Amedeo Plana. [1] It is joined to the crater Mason to the east by a short stretch of rugged ground. Due north of Plana in the midst of the Lacus Mortis is the prominent crater Bürg.

This is a crater with a slender outer rim that has been worn and eroded by impacts. This rim surrounds an interior that has been flooded by basaltic lava, leaving a level surface with only a central peak at the midpoint projecting up through the floor. There is a small craterlet near the eastern rim, but otherwise the interior floor is nearly featureless. The outer rim has some narrow breaks along the northwest, and the side is lower along the southwestern face. A small, circular crater intrudes slightly into the northwestern part of the rim.

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 Plana.

PlanaLatitudeLongitudeDiameter
C42.7° N27.1° E14 km
D41.7° N26.2° E7 km
E40.5° N23.6° E6 km
F39.8° N24.0° E5 km
G39.1° N22.9° E9 km

The name Mandela (or Nelson Mandela International Peace Crater) has been proposed for Plana G, in honor of Nelson Mandela, by the Luna Society International, [2] but this has not been approved by the IAU.

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Endymion (crater)

Endymion is a lunar impact crater that lies near the northeast limb of the Moon. It is located to the east of Mare Frigoris, and north of the Lacus Temporis. To the southwest is the somewhat smaller crater Atlas. Because of its location, Endymion has an oval appearance from foreshortening. Beyond the crater along the lunar limb is the Mare Humboldtianum.

Le Monnier (crater)

Le Monnier is the remnant of a lunar impact crater that has been partly inundated by lava flows. It was named after French astronomer Pierre Charles Le Monnier. It is located on the eastern edge of Mare Serenitatis, and the western part of the rim is missing so that it now forms a large bay. To the north is the crater Chacornac.

Bürg (crater)

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.

Baily (crater)

Baily is the remnant of a lunar impact crater on the boundary between Mare Frigoris to the north and Lacus Mortis to the south. The crater interior has been flooded by lava in the past, and only the northern half of the crater rim remains relatively intact. There is an outward bulge in the northeastern rim, possibly the remnant of another crater formation that once overlapped Baily. The crater interior is flat and relatively featureless, with no impacts of significance. The surviving outer rim reaches a maximum elevation of about 0.5 km.

Scaliger (crater)

Scaliger is a prominent lunar impact crater in the southern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. It is attached to the northwest rim of the walled plain Milne, and the shared perimeter has reshaped the outer wall of Scaliger slightly, producing a straightened section along the southeast. To the west of Scaliger is the Lacus Solitudinis.

Bowditch (crater)

Bowditch is a lunar impact crater that lies on the far side of the Moon, just beyond the eastern limb. It is located on a region of the lunar surface that is brought into view due to libration, but at such times the area is viewed from the edge and so not much detail can be observed. It lies just to the north of the small Lacus Solitudinis lunar mare, between the craters Titius to the southwest and Perel'man to the east-northeast.

Firmicus (crater)

Firmicus is a lunar impact crater that lies in the eastern part of the Moon's near side, so that from Earth it appears oval in shape due to foreshortening. It is, however, very nearly circular. The crater is located to the west of the Mare Undarum, and northeast of the similar-sized crater Apollonius. To the north of Firmicus are the craters van Albada and Auzout. Attached to its northwest rim is the Lacus Perseverantiae, a miniature lunar mare.

Haidinger (crater)

Haidinger is a lunar impact crater that is located in the southwestern part of the Moon. It was named after Austrian geologist Wilhelm von Haidinger. Just to the southwest of the crater is the small lunar mare named Lacus Timoris. Haidinger lies northwest of the crater Wilhelm and east of the irregular formation Hainzel.

Hall (lunar crater)

Hall is a lunar impact crater in the southeast part of the Lacus Somniorum, a lunar mare in the northeast part of the Moon. It was named after American astronomer Asaph Hall. This feature can be found to the east of the prominent walled plain Posidonius. Just to the south, and nearly attached to the southern rim of Hall is the smaller crater G. Bond.

Macrobius (crater)

Macrobius is a prominent lunar impact crater located to the northwest of the Mare Crisium. Its diameter is 63 km. It was named after ancient Roman writer Macrobius. It lies on the southeast edge of the Lacus Bonitatis, a small lunar mare. The somewhat smaller crater Tisserand lies just to the east.

Chrétien (crater)

Chrétien is a lunar impact crater that is located in the southern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon from the Earth. It lies due south of the Mare Ingenii, one of the few maria on the Moon's far side. The crater lies in the midpoint between the craters Garavito to the west-southwest and Oresme to the east-northeast, both of these being somewhat smaller than Chrétien.

Carnot (crater)

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.

Debye (crater)

Debye is a lunar impact crater that is located in the northern hemisphere on the Moon's far side, as seen from the Earth. It lies to the south of the crater Chappell, to the southwest of the walled plain Rowland, and to the east of D'Alembert.

Mason (crater)

Mason is the remains of a lunar impact crater that lies in the northeastern part of the Moon. It is nearly attached to the eastern rim of the flooded crater Plana, and southeast of Bürg. Along the northern rim of Mason is the southern edge of the Lacus Mortis, a small lunar mare. To the south is the larger Lacus Somniorum.

Shuckburgh (crater)

Shuckburgh is a lunar impact crater that is located in the northeastern part of the Moon's near side, named after George Shuckburgh-Evelyn. It lies south-southeast of the flooded crater Chevallier and northwest of Hooke, roughly midway between these two formations. To the northeast is the Lacus Temporis plain.

Schlüter (crater)

Schlüter is a lunar impact crater that is located near the western limb of the Moon's near side. It lies along the northwestern face of the Montes Cordillera mountain range that encircles the Mare Orientale. Nearly attached to the eastern rim is the damaged crater Hartwig.

Evershed (crater)

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.

Parkhurst (crater)

Parkhurst is a heavily degraded lunar impact crater to the northeast of the Mare Australe on the far side of the Moon. To the north-northeast of Parkhurst is the crater Scaliger and to the southwest lies the dark-floored Gernsback. The small lunar mare named Lacus Solitudinis lies due north of Parkhurst.

Sniadecki (crater)

Sniadecki is a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. This is a circular, bowl-shaped feature that is not overlain by any significant impacts. However the larger satellite crater Sniadecki Q is attached to the southwestern outer rim and has disrupted the rim edge somewhat. There is also a small crater attached to the western outer rim.

Perelman (crater)

Perel'man is a worn impact crater that lies on the Moon's far side. It is located less than one crater diameter to the northwest of the prominent crater Scaliger. To the west-southwest is the elongated Bowditch. Southwest of Perel'man is a small lunar mare that has been named Lacus Solitudinis.

References

  1. "Plana (crater)" . Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
  2. Luna Society International Designates "Peace Crater" to Honor Nelson Mandela Archived 2013-10-08 at Archive.today , retrieved 10-9-2013