Ibn Firnas (crater)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Crater characteristics
Coordinates 6.8° N, 122.3° E
Diameter 89 km
Depth Unknown
Colongitude   239° at sunrise
Eponym Abbas Ibn Firnas

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 King crater. Only a few kilometers to the north, separated by a rugged stretch of terrain, is the larger Ostwald crater.

This is a worn and eroded crater with small impacts along the northern and eastern rims. The satellite crater 'Ibn Firnas L' lies along the inner wall to the southeast and covers part of the interior floor. Along the northern side, the small satellite crater 'Ibn Firnas Y' cuts through the rim and overlays part of the inner wall. The interior floor is irregular along the northern and southwest sections where their shape has been modified by the large nearby craters mentioned above. Several small craterlets lie across the remainder of the interior floor.

[edit] Nearby craters

Several small craters located in the rugged terrain at the northern edge of this crater have been assigned names by the IAU. These are listed in the table below.

Crater Coordinates Diameter Name source
Carol 8.5° N 122.3° E 8 km Latin feminine name
Ewen 7.7° N 121.4° E 3 km Gaelic masculine name
Kasper 8.3° N 122.1° E 12 km Polish masculine name
Melissa 8.1° N 121.8° E 18 km Greek feminine name
Romeo 7.5° N 122.6° E 8 km Italian masculine name
Shahinaz 7.5° N 122.4° E 15 km Turkish feminine name

The crater Melissa lies across the north-northwestern outer rim of Ibn Firnas. It is a roughly bowl-shaped, although it has a very uneven appearance due to the irregular terrain in which it was formed. Melissa was previously designated 'Ibn Firnas Y' before it was assigned a name by the IAU.

The locations of these craters are shown on the following L&PI topographic maps:

[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 Ibn Firnas crater.

Ibn Firnas Latitude Longitude Diameter
E 7.5° N 125.5° E 42 km
L 5.9° N 123.0° E 21 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.