Main (lunar crater)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Crater characteristics
Location of Main crater as seen from above the northern pole.
Coordinates	80.8° N, 10.1° E
Diameter	46 km
Depth	2.8 km
Colongitude	354° at sunrise
Eponym	Robert Main

Main is a lunar crater that is located in the proximity of the north pole of the Moon. The southern rim of this formation has merged with the larger Challis crater to the south, and the level interior floor connects the two craters through a narrower gap. To the north-northwest of Main crater is Gioja crater.

This formation consists of three overlapping craters that were joined together when the interior floor was resurfaced by lava flows, leaving a generally circular formation with outward bulges to the west and northeast. The same lava has joined the floor of Main crater with Challis to the south.

The surviving rim of Main is a low slope that is nearly level with the surrounding terrain at the top. There is a small crater lying across the eastern rim that is roughly bowl-shaped and missing its western rim. The floor of Main is nearly level, and marked by a number of tiny craterlets that lie nearly in a band across the floor from the southwest toward the northeast. There is no central peak within the crater, and no other hills of note.

[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 Main crater.

Main	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
L	81.7° N	23.2° E	14 km
N	82.3° N	22.0° E	11 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.