Seleucus (crater)

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Seleucus
Seleucus-LRO-loSun.jpg
LRO mosaic at low sun angle
Coordinates 21°00′N66°36′W / 21.0°N 66.6°W / 21.0; -66.6 Coordinates: 21°00′N66°36′W / 21.0°N 66.6°W / 21.0; -66.6
Diameter 61 km
Depth 3.0 km
Colongitude 67° at sunrise
Eponym Seleucus of Seleucia [ citation needed ]
Seleucus area Eddington crater.jpg
Seleucus area

Seleucus is a lunar impact crater located in the western part of Oceanus Procellarum. To the west is the lava-flooded remains of the walled plain Eddington. To the southwest is the crater Krafft and to the northwest lies Briggs.

Contents

Oblique view facing south from Apollo 15, while at the sunrise terminator Seleucus crater AS15-M-2621.jpg
Oblique view facing south from Apollo 15, while at the sunrise terminator
Similar view from Apollo 15 before sunlight struck the west rim. AS15-98-13362.jpg
Similar view from Apollo 15 before sunlight struck the west rim.

The rim of Seleucus is well-formed, with a terraced inner rim and a slight rampart. The floor is relatively flat, with a small central peak. A bright ray from Glushko crater, about 500 km to the southwest, grazes the southeastern rim of Seleucus.

The narrowness of the rim of Seleucus and the abrupt contact between its raised rim and the surrounding mare prove that the final mare flooding occurred after the crater was formed, and so the crater is older than the youngest (uppermost) mare basalts in the vicinity. [1]

Approximately 50 kilometers to the southeast of Seleucus, on the Oceanus Procellarum, is the landing site of the Soviet landing craft Luna 13.

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 Seleucus.

SeleucusLatitudeLongitudeDiameter
A22.0° N60.5° W6 km
E22.4° N63.9° W4 km

See also

Related Research Articles

Eddington (crater)

Eddington is the lava-flooded remnant of a lunar impact crater, located on the western part of Oceanus Procellarum. The western rim is attached to the wall of the walled plain Struve. To the east-southeast is the smaller but prominent crater Seleucus. South of Eddington is Krafft.

Struve (crater)

Struve is the lava-flooded remains of a lunar impact crater. It is located near the western extreme of the Oceanus Procellarum, close to the western lunar limb. As a consequence, even though it is roughly circular in outline, it appears oval due to foreshortening.

Sirsalis (crater)

Sirsalis is a relatively young lunar impact crater located near the western lunar limb, to the southwest of the Oceanus Procellarum. The crater lies across a ridge that runs in a north–south direction. It has a sharp edge and a low central peak. The crater overlaps the slightly larger and older Sirsalis A to the west-southwest, and the two form a distinctive feature.

Zinner (crater)

Zinner is a tiny lunar impact crater located due north of the crater Schiaparelli on the Oceanus Procellarum. It is circular and cup-shaped, with a high albedo in comparison to the surrounding lunar mare. The crater has essentially no rim because the mare lava nearly flooded it. A ray from the crater Glushko crosses Zinner. To the northwest is the slightly larger crater Golgi. East of Zinner is the Dorsa Burnet wrinkle ridge system.

Zupus (crater)

Zupus is the lava-flooded remains of a lunar impact crater. It is located on a southwestern reach of the Oceanus Procellarum, to the northwest of Mare Humorum. To the north-northeast is the flooded crater Billy, and some distance to the southeast is Mersenius. A system of faint rilles named the Rimae Zupus lie to the northwest, following a course to the north-northwest towards the mare.

Herodotus (crater)

Herodotus is a lunar impact crater located on a low shelf in the midst of the Oceanus Procellarum. To the east is the slightly larger crater Aristarchus. West across the mare is Schiaparelli. Almost due south on the mare surface is a solitary lunar dome designated Herodotus Omega (ω).

Letronne (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.

Cardanus (crater) Lunar impact crater

Cardanus is a lunar impact crater that is located in the western part of the Moon, in the western part of the Oceanus Procellarum. Due to its location the crater appears very oval because of foreshortening, and it is viewed almost from the side.

Cavalerius (crater)

Cavalerius is a prominent lunar impact crater that lies on the western edge of the Oceanus Procellarum lunar mare on the west part of the visible Moon. It nearly joins the northern rim of Hevelius to the south.

Flamsteed (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.

Prinz (crater)

Prinz is the lava-flooded remains of a lunar impact crater on the Oceanus Procellarum. It was named after German-Belgian astronomer Wilhelm Prinz. The formation lies to the southwest of the prominent crater Aristarchus. To the north-northeast is the flooded crater Krieger.

Reiner (crater)

Reiner is a lunar impact crater on the Oceanus Procellarum, in the western part of the Moon. It has a nearly circular rim, but appears oval in shape due to foreshortening. The rim edge is well-defined and has not been eroded by impacts. In the midpoint of the irregular crater floor is a central peak. Outside the rim is a hummocky rampart that extends out across the mare for about half a crater diameter.

Agatharchides (crater) Lunar impact crater

Agatharchides is a lunar impact crater located at the southern edge of Oceanus Procellarum, in the region between the Mare Humorum and Mare Nubium. To the east-southeast is the crater Bullialdus, and to the south-southwest lies Loewy. It is named after the Greek geographer Agatharchides.

Balboa (lunar crater)

Balboa is a lunar impact crater that is located near the western limb of the Moon. Due to foreshortening, the crater appears highly oval when viewed from the Earth. In actuality, however, the formation is relatively circular. It is comparable in size to the crater Dalton, located just to the southwest. The eastern rim of Balboa lies just to the west of the Oceanus Procellarum.

Billy (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.

Briggs (crater)

Briggs is a lunar impact crater that is located in the western part of the Oceanus Procellarum, to the east of the large walled plain Struve. It lies to the northeast of the walled plain Eddington, and north-northwest of the crater Seleucus. The isolated position of this crater on the mare, near the northwestern limb of the Moon, makes it relatively easy for an Earth-bound observer to locate. The crater is named after the English mathematician Henry Briggs.

Darney (crater) Lunar crater

Darney is a small lunar impact crater that is located on the region of the Moon where the Mare Nubium joins the Oceanus Procellarum. It was named after French astronomer Maurice Darney. To the south is the lava-flooded crater Lubiniezky. The southern rim of Darney is attached to a series of low ridges that extend to the southwest.

Dechen (crater)

Dechen is a small, bowl-shaped crater that is located in the northwest part of the Oceanus Procellarum, near the northwest limb of the Moon. The rim of the crater projects slightly above the surrounding lunar mare, and the interior is symmetrical and nearly featureless. It lies to the northeast of the crater Harding, but is otherwise relatively isolated.

Ulugh Beigh (crater)

Ulugh Beigh is the remnant of a lunar impact crater that is located just to the west of the Oceanus Procellarum. It is located near the northwestern limb of the Moon, and from the Earth it appears foreshortened. Farther to the west is the smaller crater Aston, and to the north is Lavoisier. Both these craters are roughly equidistant from Ulugh Beigh, although Aston appears much closer due to the oblique viewing angle.

Fontana is a lunar impact crater that is located in the southwestern part of the Moon's near side, to the south of the Oceanus Procellarum. It lies to the west-northwest of the flooded crater Zupus. Midway between Fontana and Zupus is a rille system designated Rimae Zupus.

References

  1. Apollo Over the Moon: A View from Orbit (online version) (NASA SP-362), 1978, caption of Figure 31