Taruntius (crater)
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| Crater characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 5.6° N, 46.5° E |
| Diameter | 56 km |
| Depth | 1.0 km |
| Colongitude | 314° at sunrise |
| Eponym | Lucius T. Firmanus |
Taruntius is a lunar crater on the northwest edge of Mare Fecunditatis. To the northwest is the lava-flooded Lawrence crater, and to the north lie Watts and da Vinci craters. The surface about Taruntius has an unusual number of ghost-craters and lava-flooded features, especially to the southwest in the Mare Fecunditatis.
The outer rim of Taruntius is shallow, but forms a veined, complex rampart in the nearby mare, especially to the north and southwest. The rim is broken in the northwest by the small Cameron crater. The inner rim face lacks terraces, but in the interior is an unusual concentric inner rim that is heavily worn and irregular. This is a floor-fractured crater, possibly created by an uplift of mare material from beneath the interior. There is a low central peak complex in the middle of the relatively flat interior floor. There are also some slender rilles that are concentric to the rim.
The crater has a pair of faint dark patches. One patch is located just south of the central peak and the other falls on the sides of the northern rim near Cameron. These were likely created by deposits of volcanic ash from small vents. Taruntius has a ray system with a radius of over 300 kilometers, and is probably less than a billion years of age.
[edit] Satellite craters
By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater mid-point that is closest to Taruntius crater.
| Taruntius | Latitude | Longitude | Diameter |
|---|---|---|---|
| B | 3.3° N | 46.6° E | 7 km |
| F | 4.0° N | 40.5° E | 11 km |
| H | 0.3° N | 49.9° E | 8 km |
| K | 0.6° N | 51.6° E | 5 km |
| L | 5.5° N | 44.4° E | 14 km |
| O | 2.2° N | 54.3° E | 7 km |
| P | 0.1° N | 51.6° E | 7 km |
| R | 6.1° N | 47.9° E | 5 km |
| S | 4.9° N | 42.4° E | 5 km |
| T | 3.4° N | 47.5° E | 10 km |
| U | 5.6° N | 50.1° E | 12 km |
| V | 4.5° N | 49.8° E | 21 km |
| W | 5.5° N | 48.9° E | 15 km |
| X | 7.7° N | 53.0° E | 23 km |
| Z | 7.6° N | 44.9° E | 17 km |
The following craters have been renamed by the IAU.
- Taruntius A — See Asada crater.
- Taruntius C — See Cameron crater.
- Taruntius D — See Watts crater.
- Taruntius E — See Zähringer crater.
- Taruntius G — See Anville crater.
- Taruntius M — See Lawrence crater.
- Taruntius N — See Smithson crater.
[edit] References
- Wood, Chuck (2006-09-19). Terrific Taruntius (English). Lunar Photo of the Day. Retrieved on 2006-09-19.
- See the reference table for the general listing of literature and web sites that were used in the compilation of this page.
