Vetchinkin (crater)

Vetchinkin

Apollo 16 mapping camera image. Gamma-ray spectrometer is at right. NASA  photo.
Coordinates	10°12′N131°18′E / 10.2°N 131.3°E / 10.2; 131.3
Diameter	98 km
Colongitude	230° at sunrise
Eponym	Vladimir Vetchinkin

Vetchinkin is an eroded lunar impact crater. It is located to the west-northwest of the huge walled plain Mendeleev, on the far side of the Moon. To the west-northwest of Vetchinkin lies the crater Meshcherskiy and to the south-southeast lies Green.

Oblique view also from Apollo 16 with a higher sun angle

This crater is heavily worn and eroded, and little remains of the original outer rim. The satellite crater Vetchinkin K falls across the eastern side of the rim, and Vetchinkin Q forms a small but prominent crater in the southwestern part of the floor. The remainder of the crater interior is marked by various small craterlets and minor impacts, and there is little to distinguish this feature from the surrounding battered terrain.

Naming

The crater is named after the Russian physicist and engineer Vladimir Vetchinkin. Prior to its naming in 1970 by the IAU, ^[1] this crater was known as Crater 215. ^[2]

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 Vetchinkin.

Vetchinkin	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
F	10.0° N	134.0° E	30 km
K	9.6° N	132.3° E	22 km
P	7.7° N	130.3° E	17 km
Q	9.6° N	130.7° E	23 km

Vetchinkin and its satellite craters

References

1. Vetchinkin, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)
2. Lunar Farside Chart (LFC-1A)

• Andersson, L. E.; Whitaker, E. A. (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097.
• Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-81528-4.
• Cocks, Elijah E.; Cocks, Josiah C. (1995). Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature. Tudor Publishers. ISBN   978-0-936389-27-1.
• McDowell, Jonathan (July 15, 2007). "Lunar Nomenclature". Jonathan's Space Report. Archived from the original on 2012-02-08. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
• Menzel, D. H.; Minnaert, M.; Levin, B.; Dollfus, A.; Bell, B. (1971). "Report on Lunar Nomenclature by the Working Group of Commission 17 of the IAU". Space Science Reviews. 12 (2): 136–186. Bibcode:1971SSRv...12..136M. doi:10.1007/BF00171763. S2CID   122125855.
• Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co. ISBN   978-0-304-35469-6.
• Price, Fred W. (1988). The Moon Observer's Handbook. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-33500-3.
• Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN   978-0-913135-17-4.
• Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes (6th revised ed.). Dover. ISBN   978-0-486-20917-3.
• Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-62248-6.
• Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer. ISBN   978-1-85233-193-1.

External links

• Vetchinkin at The Moon Wiki