Cassini (crater)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This is about the lunar crater; for the Martian one, see Cassini (Martian crater).
| Crater characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40.2° N, 4.6° E |
| Diameter | 57 km |
| Depth | 1.2 km |
| Colongitude | 356° at sunrise |
| Eponym | Giovanni D. Cassini Jacques Cassini |
Cassini is a lunar impact crater that is located in the Palus Nebularum, at the eastern end of Mare Imbrium. To the northeast is the Promontorium Agassiz, the southern tip of the Montes Alpes mountain range. South by south-east of Cassini is the Theaetetus crater. To the northwest is the lone peak Mons Piton.
The floor of the crater is flooded, and is likely as old as the surrounding maria. The surface is peppered with a multitude of impacts, including a pair of significant craters contained entirely within the rim. Cassini A is the larger of these two, and it lies just north-east of the crater center. A hilly ridge area runs from this inner crater toward the south-east. Near the south-west rim of Cassini is the smaller crater Cassini B.
The walls of this crater are narrow and irregular in form but remain intact despite the lava flooding. Beyond the crater rim is a significant and irregular outer rampart.
For unknown reasons, this crater was omitted from early maps of the Moon. This crater is not of recent origin, however, so the omission was most likely an error on the part of the map-makers.
[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 Cassini crater.
| Cassini | Latitude | Longitude | Diameter |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 40.5° N | 4.8° E | 15 km |
| B | 39.9° N | 3.9° E | 9 km |
| C | 41.7° N | 7.8° E | 14 km |
| E | 42.9° N | 7.3° E | 10 km |
| F | 40.9° N | 7.3° E | 7 km |
| G | 44.7° N | 5.5° E | 5 km |
| K | 45.2° N | 4.1° E | 4 km |
| L | 44.0° N | 4.5° E | 6 km |
| M | 41.3° N | 3.7° E | 8 km |
| P | 44.7° N | 1.9° E | 4 km |
| W | 42.3° N | 4.3° E | 6 km |
| X | 43.9° N | 7.9° E | 4 km |
| Y | 41.9° N | 2.2° E | 3 km |
| Z | 43.4° N | 2.3° E | 4 km |
[edit] References
- See the reference table for the general listing of literature and web sites that were used in the compilation of this page.
