Richards (lunar crater)

Last updated
Richards
Richards crater AS16-M-0061.jpg
Apollo 16 image
Coordinates 7°42′N140°06′E / 7.7°N 140.1°E / 7.7; 140.1 Coordinates: 7°42′N140°06′E / 7.7°N 140.1°E / 7.7; 140.1
Diameter 16 km
Depth Unknown
Colongitude 220° at sunrise
Eponym Theodore W. Richards
Oblique view of Catena Mendeleev from Apollo 11, with Richards at the top center. NASA photo. Catena mendeleev.png
Oblique view of Catena Mendeleev from Apollo 11, with Richards at the top center. NASA  photo.
Apollo 16 image of interior of Mendeleev. Fischer is above center, and Richards is in upper left. Harden is in lower right. Benedict is along bottom edge. AS16-M-0874.jpg
Apollo 16 image of interior of Mendeleev. Fischer is above center, and Richards is in upper left. Harden is in lower right. Benedict is along bottom edge.
Oblique view also from Apollo 16 Richards crater AS16-118-18977.jpg
Oblique view also from Apollo 16

Richards is a small lunar impact crater that is located in the northern interior of the walled plain Mendeleev, on the far side of the Moon. It lies about half-way between the craters Bergman to the west-southwest and Fischer to the east, both also within Mendeleev's interior.

Lunar craters

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

Impact crater Circular depression on a solid astronomical body formed by a hypervelocity impact of a smaller object

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.

Mendeleev (crater) Impact crater

Mendeleev is a large lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon, as seen from the Earth. The southern rim of this walled plain just crosses the lunar equator. Intruding into the eastern rim of Mendeleev is the crater Schuster. Nearly on the opposite side, the smaller Hartmann intrudes into west-southwestern rim.

This is a circular, cup-shaped crater with a small interior floor at the midpoint of the sloping inner walls. The interior sides have a higher albedo than the surroundings. There is a small crater situated along the north-northeastern edge of the rim. The crater chain named Catena Mendeleev passes just to the west of Richards, continuing in a line of small craters from the southwestern edge of Mendeleev.

Albedo ratio of reflected radiation to incident radiation

Albedo is the measure of the diffuse reflection of solar radiation out of the total solar radiation received by an astronomical body. It is dimensionless and measured on a scale from 0 to 1.

Related Research Articles

Doppler (crater) lunar crater

Doppler is a lunar impact crater named for Christian Doppler that is located at the southern edge of the walled plain Korolev, on the far side of the Moon. To the east are the craters Das and Galois. Farther to the southwest of Doppler is Mohorovičić.

Archytas (crater) impact crater

Archytas is a lunar impact crater that protrudes into the northern edge of Mare Frigoris. To the northwest is the comparably sized crater Timaeus, and the smaller Protagoras lies in the opposite direction to the southeast. Further to the southwest, beyond the opposite edge of the mare, is the dark-floored crater Plato.

Benedict (crater) lunar crater

Benedict is a small, bowl-shaped crater that lies on the floor of the walled basin Mendeleev. It is located near the lunar equator on the far side of the Moon from the Earth.

Bergman (crater) lunar crater

Bergman is a small lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon. It was named after Swedish astronomer Torbern O. Bergman. It is located on the interior floor of the walled plain Mendeleev, and is attached to the edge of the inner wall to the northwest. On the same walled basin are the craters Moissan to the south and Richards to the west. The rim of Bergman is roughly circular, and the formation is generally bowl-shaped. The western half of the interior floor is covered with a slope of scree, leaving a small level floor on the eastern side.

Carmichael (crater) lunar crater

Carmichael is a lunar impact crater that is located along the eastern edge of the Sinus Amoris, in the northeastern quadrant of the Moon's near side. Its diameter is 20 km. It was named after American psychologist Leonard Carmichael. It lies within a couple of crater diameters south-southwest of the smaller crater Hill. Further to the east-northeast is the prominent crater Macrobius. Carmichael was designated Macrobius A before being given its current name by the IAU.

Demonax (crater) impact crater

Demonax is a lunar impact crater near the southern limb of the Moon. This location makes the crater difficult to observe due to foreshortening. The crater is also illuminated at a very low angle, when it is in the sunlit side. Demonax lies just to the north of the crater Scott, one of the south polar formations. To the north-northwest is Boguslawsky.

Cori (lunar crater) lunar crater

Cori is a lunar impact crater that is located in the southern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. It lies less than one crater diameter to the north of the crater Baldet. To the northeast is the crater Grissom. It is named after Gerty Cori, the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize and the first woman to win the prize in the category Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Carnot (crater) impact 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.

Drebbel (crater) impact crater

Drebbel is a small lunar impact crater named after Cornelius Drebbel that is located to the northeast of the large walled plain Schickard, in the southwestern part of the Moon. Further to the northeast is the Lacus Excellentiae and the small crater Clausius.

Chaplygin (crater)

Chaplygin is a large lunar impact crater that lies on the far side of the Moon. It is located to the southeast of the huge walled plain Mendeleev, about midway between the craters Schliemann to the northeast and Marconi to the southwest. It is about the same size as Albategnius on the near side.

Donner (crater) lunar crater

Donner is a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. It is located just to the northeast of the Mare Australe, behind the southeastern limb of the Moon. During favorable librations this part of the lunar surface can be brought into view of the Earth, but the site is viewed from the edge and so not much detail can be seen.

Eijkman is a lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon's southern hemisphere. It lies about a half crater diameter to the southeast of the larger crater Lemaître. To the south-southwest is the crater Crommelin, and to the northeast is Fizeau.

Fersman (crater) lunar crater

Fersman is a large lunar impact crater on the Moon's far side. It lies to the east of the crater Poynting, and west-northwest of Weyl. To the south is the huge walled plain Hertzsprung.

Fischer (crater) lunar crater

Fischer is a lunar impact crater that lies in the northeastern part of the interior floor of the huge walled plain Mendeleev. This feature is located on the far side of the Moon relative to the Earth, and can only be viewed from a spacecraft.

Harden (crater) lunar crater

Harden is a small lunar impact crater that lies in the eastern part of the interior floor of the walled plain Mendeleev. It is located on the far side of the Moon, and cannot been seen from the Earth.

Rutherford (lunar crater) lunar crater

Rutherford is a small lunar impact crater that lies on the Moon's far side. It was named after New Zealand-British physicist and Nobel laureate Ernest Rutherford. It is located just to the north-northwest of the huge walled plain Mendeleev. To the east of Rutherford is the equally diminutive crater Glauber, and to the west-northwest lies Hoffmeister.

Pannekoek (crater) lunar crater

Pannekoek is a lunar impact crater that is situated on the far side of the Moon, and cannot be seen directly from the Earth. The crater lies along the northern edge of the slightly larger Dellinger, and their common border forms an area of uneven terrain. Due north of Pannekoek is the huge walled plain Mendeleev. The crater is named after astronomer and father of Council Communism, Antonie Pannekoek.

Schuster (crater) lunar crater

Schuster is a lunar impact crater that lies along the eastern rim of the much larger walled plain Mendeleev, on the far side of the Moon. To the east of Schuster is the crater Henderson, and to the southeast lies the large Chaplygin.

Vetchinkin (crater) lunar crater

Vetchinkin is an eroded lunar impact crater. It is located to the west-northwest of the huge walled plain Mendeleev, on the far side of the Moon. To the west-northwest of Vetchinkin lies the crater Meshcherskiy and to the south-southeast lies Green.

References

Ewen Whitaker British astronomer

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.

NASA space-related agency of the United States government

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.

United States Geological Survey Scientific agency of the United States government

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.