Coordinates | 16°10′S167°38′E / 16.17°S 167.64°E |
---|---|
Diameter | 126 km |
Depth | 4.0 km (2.5 mi) [1] [2] |
Colongitude | 192° at sunrise |
Eponym | Fritz Zwicky (astronomer) |
Zwicky is a lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon. It lies to the west of the crater Aitken, and is attached to the western rim of Vertregt. Attached to the northern end of Zwicky is Heaviside. Zwicky is a considerably eroded formation with an irregular rim and interior. Portions of the southern rim still survive, but the remainder has been almost completely eradicated.
The satellite crater Zwicky N, located in the midst of the interior of Zwicky, has a relatively dark floor by comparison with the surrounding terrain. This smaller crater has a polygonal outline with relatively smooth inner walls. The interior floor is a lower albedo material that has a cracked surface. It is thought that this is caused by the cooling of molten material, or possibly tectonic movement. This is referred to informally as a "turtleback crater floor".
The crater is named after astronomer Fritz Zwicky (1898–1974), a professor at Caltech, Pasadena and pioneer in the study of supernovae and of galaxy clusters. The minor planet 1803 Zwicky is also named in his honour. [3]
By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Zwicky. Zwicky N crater had the proposed name of Ibn Hayyan, [1] [2] but this was not approved by the IAU.
Zwicky | Coordinates | Diameter, km |
---|---|---|
N | 15°55′S167°34′E / 15.92°S 167.57°E | 29.6 |
R | 18°08′S163°35′E / 18.13°S 163.59°E | 29.0 |
S | 16°05′S162°47′E / 16.09°S 162.79°E | 45.6 |
Avery is a small lunar impact crater located near the eastern limb of the Moon. This is a circular, bowl-shaped formation with a small interior floor. It lies near the western edge of Mare Smythii. To the east is the crater Haldane, and to the southwest is Carrillo. Gilbert lies to the southwest.
King is a prominent lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon, and can not be viewed directly from Earth. The crater was named after Arthur Scott King and Edward Skinner King in 1970. Prior to that, this crater was known as Crater 211. It forms a pair with Ibn Firnas, which is only slightly larger and is attached to the northeast rim of King. To the northwest is the crater Lobachevskiy, and Guyot is located an equal distance to the north-northwest.
Zhiritskiy is a lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon. It lies to the south of the large walled plain Fermi, and northwest of the crater Schaeberle.
Haldane is a lunar impact crater that is located in Mare Smythii, near the eastern limb of the Moon. The visibility of this formation is affected by libration, and even under favorable conditions it is highly foreshortened. It lies just to the west-northwest of the crater Runge, and to the east of Carrillo. The small crater Talbot is immediately to the southwest of Haldane.
Gilbert is a large lunar impact crater that lies near the eastern limb of the Moon. Due to its location this feature appears foreshortened when viewed from the Earth, limiting the amount of detail that can be observed. The crater lies to the northwest of the similar-sized walled plain Kästner, to the west of the Mare Smythii.
Fermi is a large lunar impact crater of the category named a walled plain. It was named after Italian-American physicist and Nobel laureate Enrico Fermi. It lies on the far side of the Moon and can not be viewed from the Earth. Thus this feature must be viewed from an orbiting spacecraft.
La Pérouse is a lunar impact crater that is located near the eastern limb of the Moon. It lies northwest of the larger crater Ansgarius, and to the east of Kapteyn. This crater appears foreshortened due to its location, but the rim is nearly circular when viewed from orbit.
Widmannstätten is a lunar impact crater in the southern part of the Mare Smythii, near the eastern limb of the Moon. The rim of this crater has a wide gap along the western side, where it is joined to the larger Kiess. There is also a gap in the northern rim where the crater floor is joined to the adjacent lunar mare. The dark interior floor of this formation has been flooded by lava, leaving a level interior surface and a shallow surviving rim.
Talbot is a small lunar impact crater on the Mare Smythii, near the eastern limb of the Moon. It lies between a pair of larger, flooded craters, with Runge to the west and Haldane to the west-northwest. The crater is entirely surrounded by the dark lunar mare. It is a circular, bowl-shaped formation with an almost featureless interior floor. The outer rim has a slightly higher albedo than the surrounding terrain, but the floor is as dark as the mare.
Warner is a lunar impact crater that is located in the southern part of the Mare Smythii, near the eastern limb of the Moon. In this location the crater is viewed almost from the edge from Earth, and is sometimes hidden from sight due to libration. The crater lies just to the south-southeast of the very similar Runge. To the southwest is Widmannstätten, and to the south is the merged Kao–Helmert crater pair.
Ibn Firnas is a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. Attached to the exterior of its southwestern rim is the prominent crater King. Only a few kilometers to the north, separated by a rugged stretch of terrain, is the larger crater Ostwald.
Danjon is a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. It lies less than a crater diameter to the east-southeast of the larger crater Langemak. To the east-northeast of Danjon is the crater Perepelkin, and due south lies the walled plain Fermi.
D'Arsonval is a small lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. It is situated across the northeastern rim of the older and larger crater Danjon. To the west of D'Arsonval is Perepelkin.
Delporte is a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. It overlies part of the northwestern rim of the huge walled plain Fermi, and the crater Litke is nearly attached to the southeastern rim.
Dobrovolʹskiy is a small lunar impact crater on the Moon's far side. The northwest part of its rim is intruded upon by the somewhat larger crater Shirakatsi, and the outer rampart of that feature covers most of the interior floor of Dobrovolʹskiy. Very little of the original floor now survives, with a small section near the southern inner wall. The remainder of the crater rim is somewhat circular and only mildly worn.
Litke is a lunar impact crater that lies within the large walled plain Fermi, near the north-northwestern inner rim. Less than one crater diameter to the west-northwest is the slightly larger Delporte. Litke is located on the far side of the Moon and cannot be viewed directly from the Earth.
Neujmin is a lunar impact crater on the Moon's far side. It is nearly attached to the west-southwest of the smaller crater Waterman, and lies to the southwest of the prominent Tsiolkovskiy.
Shirakatsi is an impact crater that is located on the Moon's far side. It is attached to the southern exterior rim of the larger crater Perepelkin, and overlies the northwestern rim of Dobrovol'skiy.
Langemak is a prominent impact crater on the far side of the Moon. It is located less than one crater diameter west-northwest of Danjon, and nearly due east of Meitner. To the southwest of Langemak is Kondratyuk. Langemak partly overlies the larger and older crater Langemak N. This feature is also attached to the northeastern rim of Kondratyuk.
Waterman is a lunar impact crater that is located on the Moon's far side, and cannot be viewed directly from the Earth. It lies along the southern outer ramparts of the prominent crater Tsiolkovskiy. Almost attached to the southwest is Neujmin, so that Waterman lies straddled between these two features.