Van den Bos (crater)

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Van den Bos
Van den Bos crater 1115 h2.jpg
Coordinates 5°18′S146°00′E / 5.3°S 146.0°E / -5.3; 146.0 Coordinates: 5°18′S146°00′E / 5.3°S 146.0°E / -5.3; 146.0
Diameter 22 km
Depth Unknown
Colongitude 214° at sunrise
Eponym Willem H. van den Bos
Oblique view facing southeast from Apollo 14 Van den Bos crater AS14-72-09954.jpg
Oblique view facing southeast from Apollo 14
Oblique view facing south from Apollo 12 Van den Bos AS12-51-7518.jpg
Oblique view facing south from Apollo 12
Oblique Apollo 17 panoramic camera image facing north with van den Bos below center and Tamm above center Van Den Boss and Tamm craters AS17-P-1993 ASU.jpg
Oblique Apollo 17 panoramic camera image facing north with van den Bos below center and Tamm above center

Van den Bos is a small lunar impact crater that is joined to the south-southwestern outer rim of the slightly larger crater Tamm. About one crater diameter to the west is Vil'ev. Farther away to the east is the prominent Chaplygin, and to the south-southwest lies Marconi. van den Bos is located on the far side of the Moon and cannot be viewed directly from the Earth.

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.

Tamm (crater) lunar crater

Tamm is a shallow lunar impact crater. It is located to the west-northwest of the much larger and more prominent crater Chaplygin. Attached to the south-southwestern outer rim of Tamm is the smaller van den Bos. There is a gap in the southern rim where these two craters are joined together.

This is a shallow crater formation with some wear along its rim. It has nearly merged with the neighboring Tamm, and the length of the common rim is almost two-thirds the diameter of van den Bos. The interior floor has a series of rilles across the surface. These are usually formed by cooling sheets of basaltic lava, although it has been hypothesized that the fissured, viscous-appearing material within both Tamm and van den Bos was emplaced as impact melt from the Mendeleev basin 225 km to the northwest. [1]

Rille fissure, especially on the Moon

Rille is typically used to describe any of the long, narrow depressions in the surface of the Moon that resemble channels. The Latin term is rima, plural rimae. Typically a rille can be up to several kilometers wide and hundreds of kilometers in length. However, the term has also been used loosely to describe similar structures on a number of planets in the Solar System, including Mars, Venus, and on a number of moons. All bear a structural resemblance to each other.

Basalt A magnesium- and iron-rich extrusive igneous rock

Basalt is a mafic extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of magnesium-rich and iron-rich lava exposed at or very near the surface of a terrestrial planet or a moon. More than 90% of all volcanic rock on Earth is basalt. Basalt lava has a low viscosity, due to its low silica content, resulting in rapid lava flows that can spread over great areas before cooling and solidification. Flood basalt describes the formation in a series of lava basalt flows.

Lava Molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption

Lava is molten rock generated by geothermal energy and expelled through fractures in planetary crust or in an eruption, usually at temperatures from 700 to 1,200 °C. The structures resulting from subsequent solidification and cooling are also sometimes described as lava. The molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites, though such material located below the crust is referred to by other terms.

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Carver (crater) lunar crater

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Chevallier (crater) impact crater

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Drebbel (crater) impact crater

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Chang Heng (crater) lunar crater

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Fourier (crater) Moon crater

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Van der Waals (crater) lunar crater

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Denning (lunar crater)

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Donner (crater) lunar crater

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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.

Van den Bergh (crater) lunar crater

Van den Bergh is an eroded lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon. It lies just to the east of the larger crater Cockcroft. To the north is Evershed.

Vilev (crater) lunar crater

Vil'ev is an eroded lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon. It lies to the west of the much larger crater Chaplygin, and to the north of Marconi. Just to the northeast of Vil'ev is the small crater pair of van den Bos and Tamm. Slightly farther to the west is the larger crater pair of Pannekoek and Dellinger.

References

  1. The geologic history of the Moon, 1987, Wilhelms, Don E.; with sections by McCauley, John F.; Trask, Newell J. USGS Professional Paper: 1348. (online), Figure 6.13 H
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.