Rutherford (lunar crater)

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Rutherford
Rutherford crater AS16-M-1305.jpg
Oblique Apollo 16 image
Coordinates 10°42′N137°00′E / 10.7°N 137.0°E / 10.7; 137.0 Coordinates: 10°42′N137°00′E / 10.7°N 137.0°E / 10.7; 137.0
Diameter 13 km
Colongitude 223° at sunrise
Eponym Ernest Rutherford

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. [1] 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.

This crater has a roughly pear-shaped outline, with an elongated section at the north-northwestern end. The rim edge is well-defined and the inner walls are simple slopes that run down to the small interior floor.

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References

  1. "Rutherford (lunar crater)" . Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.