Scheele (crater)

Last updated
Scheele
Scheele crater AS16-M-2990.jpg
Apollo 16 Mapping camera image
Coordinates 9°24′S37°48′W / 9.4°S 37.8°W / -9.4; -37.8 Coordinates: 9°24′S37°48′W / 9.4°S 37.8°W / -9.4; -37.8
Diameter 4 km
Depth 0.8 km
Colongitude 38° at sunrise
Eponym Carl W. Scheele

Scheele is a tiny, bowl-shaped lunar impact crater that lies on the Oceanus Procellarum, to the south of the small crater Wichmann. To the southwest is the flooded crater Letronne. To the southwest of Scheele are several low ridges projecting above the surface of the lunar mare, the Dorsa Ewing.

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.

Oceanus Procellarum vast lunar mare on the western edge of the near side of Earths Moon

Oceanus Procellarum is a vast lunar mare on the western edge of the near side of the Moon. It is the only one of the lunar maria to be called an "Oceanus" (ocean), due to its size: Oceanus Procellarum is the largest of the maria, stretching more than 2,500 km (1,600 mi) across its north-south axis and covering roughly 4,000,000 km2 (1,500,000 sq mi), accounting for roughly 10.5% of the total lunar surface area.

This crater was named after the Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele. [1] It was previously designated Letronne D.

Carl Wilhelm Scheele Swedish chemist

Carl Wilhelm Scheele was a Swedish Pomeranian and German pharmaceutical chemist. Isaac Asimov called him "hard-luck Scheele" because he made a number of chemical discoveries before others who are generally given the credit. For example, Scheele discovered oxygen, and identified molybdenum, tungsten, barium, hydrogen, and chlorine before Humphry Davy, among others. Scheele discovered organic acids tartaric, oxalic, uric, lactic, and citric, as well as hydrofluoric, hydrocyanic, and arsenic acids. He preferred speaking German to Swedish his whole life, as German was commonly spoken among Swedish pharmacists.

Related Research Articles

Bobillier (crater) lunar crater

Bobillier is a tiny, cup-shaped lunar impact crater in the southwest part of Mare Serenitatis. It was named after French geometer Étienne Bobillier in 1976. It lies to the north-northwest of the crater Bessel. To the south and west is a wrinkle ridge designated Dorsum Buckland. Bobillier was previously identified as Bessel E.

Winthrop (crater) lunar crater

Winthrop is the remnant of a lunar impact crater that has been flooded by lava from the Oceanus Procellarum. It was named after American astronomer John Winthrop. It lies across the western rim of the much larger crater Letronne, a much larger feature that has been nearly destroyed by the intruding mare lavas. All that survives of Winthrop are a few segments of the outer rim.

Abul Wafa (crater) impact crater

Abul Wafa is an impact crater located near the lunar equator on the far side of the Moon, named after the Persian mathematician and astronomer Abu al-Wafa' Buzjani. To the east are the crater pair Ctesibius and Heron. In the northeast lies the larger crater King, and to the southwest is Vesalius.

Bombelli (crater) lunar crater

Bombelli is a small lunar impact crater that is located in the highlands to the north of the Sinus Successus. It was named after Italian mathematician Raphael Bombelli. It was previously designated Apollonius T. The crater Apollonius is located to the east-southeast.

Letronne (crater) impact crater

Letronne is the lava-flooded remnant of a lunar impact crater. It was named after French archaeologist Jean-Antoine Letronne. The northern part of the rim is completely missing, and opens into the Oceanus Procellarum, forming a bay along the southwestern shore. The formation is located to the northwest of the large crater Gassendi.To the west-southwest is the flooded crater Billy, and north-northwest lies the smaller Flamsteed.

Flamsteed (crater) lunar crater

Flamsteed is a small lunar impact crater located on the Oceanus Procellarum, which is named after British astronomer John Flamsteed. It lies almost due east of the dark-hued Grimaldi, and north-northwest of the flooded Letronne bay on the south edge of the mare.

Adams (lunar crater) lunar crater

Adams is a lunar impact crater that is located in the rugged southeastern section of the Moon, near the lunar limb. It lies just to the southwest of the crater Legendre. To the northwest are the craters Hase and Petavius, and to the southwest is Furnerius. To the southwest of Adams is a system of rilles designated the Rimae Hase. The longest of these rilles follows a course to the southeast.

Artemev (crater) lunar crater

Artem'ev is a lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon. The rim of this crater has been modified by subsequent impacts in the vicinity, with an inward bulge along the southwest edge and a worn impact lying across the north rim. The satellite crater Artem'ev G is partly overlain by the southeast rim of Artem'ev. The crater interior is relatively flat, and marked only by tiny craterlets.

Byrd (lunar crater) lunar crater

Byrd is an irregular lunar impact crater that is located near the north pole of the Moon. The north rim of Byrd is nearly connected to the crater Peary, a formation that is adjacent to the pole. The smaller crater Gioja is attached to the remains of the southwest rim.

Billy (crater) lunar crater

Billy is a lunar impact crater that is located at the southern fringes of the Oceanus Procellarum, in the western hemisphere of the Moon. It was named after French mathematician Jacques de Billy. It lies to the southeast of the similar-sized crater Hansteen, and west-southwest of the flooded Letronne.

Bellot (crater) lunar crater

Bellot is a small lunar impact crater that is located on the southwest edge of Mare Fecunditatis. It lies between the craters Goclenius to the northwest and Crozier to the southeast. To the southwest is Colombo, and to the west is Magelhaens.

Borda (crater) lunar crater

Borda is a lunar impact crater that lies between Santbech to the north-northwest and Reichenbach slightly further away to the south-southeast. It was named after French astronomer Jean-Charles de Borda. It has a low rim that is broken along the southeast by a smaller crater. The rim is intruded into by another small crater along the southwest side, and there is an irregular cleft along the northwest face. There is a central peak at the midpoint of the floor.

Breislak (crater) impact crater

Breislak is a lunar impact crater that lies within one crater diameter north-northwest of the crater Baco, in the southern part of the Moon. To the north-northwest is the crater Barocius, and to the west lies Clairaut. This crater was named in honor of geologist Scipione Breislak.

Bobone (crater) lunar crater

Bobone is an old, heavily eroded crater formation that lies on the far side of the Moon. Little remains of the original crater formation, leaving only a bowl-shaped depression in the surface that is pock-marked by tiny craterlets. It is attached to the southwest rim of the large satellite crater Kovalevskaya Q, which has its northeast rim overlaid by Kovalevskaya itself. To the west-southwest is Bronk.

Buisson (crater) lunar crater

Buisson is a lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon. It is named after the French physicist Henri Buisson. Nearly attached to the southeast rim is the crater Vesalius. To the southwest is Einthoven. The rim of this crater is somewhat worn, and is lowest in the north. There is a low central ridge across the midpoint.

Dunthorne (crater) lunar crater

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.

Elmer (crater) lunar crater

Elmer is a small lunar impact crater that is located to the south of Mare Smythii, near the eastern limb of the Moon. This crater is seen at a highly oblique angle from Earth, and the visibility is affected by libration. Elmer lies southwest of the crater Kreiken, and east-southeast of the larger Dale. This is a circular, bowl-shaped crater with an interior floor that occupies about half the total diameter.

Dugan is a lunar impact crater that is located on the northern part of the Moon's far side. It lies to the southwest of the large walled plain Schwarzschild, and due north of the crater Compton.

Chandler (crater) impact crater

Chandler is a lunar impact crater in the northern hemisphere, on the Moon's far side. It lies to the southeast of the large walled plain D'Alembert, and southeast of the slightly smaller Chernyshev crater.

Evershed (crater) lunar 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.

References

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

Ben J. Bussey is an American planetary scientist.