Swift (lunar crater)

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Swift
Swift crater AS17-M-0290.jpg
Apollo 17 mapping camera image
Coordinates 19°18′N53°24′E / 19.3°N 53.4°E / 19.3; 53.4 Coordinates: 19°18′N53°24′E / 19.3°N 53.4°E / 19.3; 53.4
Diameter 10 km
Colongitude 307° at sunrise
Eponym Lewis A. Swift
Oblique view from Apollo 17, facing north Swift crater AS17-P-2691.jpg
Oblique view from Apollo 17, facing north
Swift (above center) and Peirce (center) from Apollo 17. The rays from the left are from Proclus. NASA photo. AS17-M-0431.jpg
Swift (above center) and Peirce (center) from Apollo 17. The rays from the left are from Proclus. NASA  photo.

Swift is a small lunar impact crater that is located in the northwestern part of the Mare Crisium, in the northeast part of the Moon's near side. Within two crater diameters to the south is the larger crater Peirce. It was named after American astronomer Lewis A. Swift. [1] Swift was previously designated Peirce B.

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.

Mare Crisium lunar mare

Mare Crisium is a lunar mare located in the Moon's Crisium basin, just northeast of Mare Tranquillitatis. The basin is of the Pre-Imbrian period, 4.55 to 3.85 billion years ago.

This formation is circular and bowl-shaped, with a small floor at the midpoint of the sloping interior walls. It is a symmetrical crater with little appearance of wear from minor impacts.

This crater has been incorrectly named 'Graham' on some maps.[ citation needed ]

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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.

Deseilligny (crater) lunar crater

Deseilligny is a small lunar impact crater in the southern part of the Mare Serenitatis. It was named after French selenographer Jules Deseilligny. It is located to the east-southeast of the crater Bessel. Deseilligny is a bowl-shaped crater with a low rim. It is otherwise undistinguished.

Finsch (crater) lunar crater

Finsch is a relatively small lunar impact crater in the mid-part of Mare Serenitatis that has been almost completely covered by the mare, forming a ghost crater in the lava plain. It was named after German zoologist Otto Finsch. It is located to the south-southeast of the crater Sarabhai and northeast of Bessel.

Amontons (crater) lunar crater

Amontons is a tiny lunar impact crater in the western half of the Mare Fecunditatis. It is a circular, cup-shaped formation that has been excavated out of the level surface by the impact, and is the same dark hue as the surrounding mare. When the sun is at a low angle, multiple ghost-craters are visible in the mare surface to the south-southeast and north of it.

Balmer (crater) lunar crater

Balmer is the lava-flooded remains of a lunar impact crater. Only the heavily worn southern and eastern sections of the crater still survive; the remainder being overlaid by a lava flow that joins to the nearby mare. Balmer lies to the east-southeast of the crater Vendelinus.

Blagg (crater) lunar crater

Blagg is a tiny lunar impact crater located on the Sinus Medii. It is a circular crater with no appreciable erosion. To the east-southeast is the irregular crater Rhaeticus, and northeast lies Triesnecker. It is about 33 km to the east of the slightly larger Bruce. It was named after noted English astronomer Mary Adela Blagg. Its diameter is 5.0 km.

Asada (crater) lunar crater

Asada is a small lunar impact crater located at the northern edge of Mare Fecunditatis, to the northeast of the crater Taruntius. It is a circular crater formation with inner walls that slope down toward a small central floor at the midpoint. Asada was designated Taruntius A prior to being named by the IAU.

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.

Curtis (crater) lunar crater

Curtis is a very small lunar impact crater that lies in the western Mare Crisium, to the east of the crater Picard. It is a circular, cup-shaped formation that is otherwise undistinguished. It was named after American astronomer Heber D. Curtis in 1973. In the past it was designated Picard Z.

Yerkes (crater) lunar crater

Yerkes is a lunar impact crater near the western edge of Mare Crisium. It was named after American financier Charles Yerkes. To the east of Yerkes is the crater Picard, and farther to the north is Peirce.

Boss (crater) lunar impact crater

Boss is a lunar impact crater that is located along the northeast rim of the Moon's near side. Due to its location, the crater is viewed from the side by observers on the Earth, and its visibility is subject to libration effects.

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.

Belyaev (crater) lunar crater

Belyaev is a lunar impact crater that is attached to the outer edge of the Mare Moscoviense, on the far side of the Moon. It is a worn formation with a small crater pair overlaying the southern rim, and several smaller craters across the relatively irregular interior.

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.

Peirce (crater) impact crater

Peirce is a small lunar impact crater in the western part of Mare Crisium. That dark, circular lunar mare is located in the east-northeasterly part of the Moon's near side. It was named after the American mathematician Benjamin Peirce. Peirce lies to the north of the craters Yerkes and Picard, and southeast of Macrobius located outside the mare. Just over a crater diameter to the north of Peirce is the smaller Swift. To the northwest is the wrinkle ridge Dorsum Oppel.

Eckert (crater) impact crater

Eckert is a tiny, isolated lunar impact crater in the northern part of the Mare Crisium. This crater forms a circular pit in the dark surface of the surrounding lunar mare. Just to the west is a wrinkle ridge in the mare surface, a feature that is prominent only under oblique lighting from the Sun. The nearest craters of note are Peirce to the west-northwest, and Picard to the southwest. Both of these craters lie in the Mare Crisium basin.

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.

Courtney (crater) lunar crater

Courtney is a tiny lunar impact crater on the Mare Imbrium, a lunar mare in the northwest quadrant of the Moon. It lies about two crater diameters to the northwest of Euler, in an otherwise isolated stretch of the mare. The dark surface in this region is marked by Euler's ray material. The name is an English male name.

Aepinus is a small lunar impact crater located along the northern lunar limb, close to the north pole of the Moon. To the south east is the prominent crater Hermite.

Bosch is a small lunar impact crater near the North Pole of the Moon. It is located just to the northeast of Rozhdestvenskiy W

References

  1. "Swift (lunar 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.