Alpetragius (crater)

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Crater characteristics
Alpetragius crater at bottom, beside the larger Alphonsus. NASA photo.
Coordinates	16.0° S, 4.5° W
Diameter	40 km
Depth	3.9 km
Colongitude	5° at sunrise
Eponym	Al Betrugi

Alpetragius is a lunar impact crater located on the east edge of Mare Nubium, to the southwest of the much larger Alphonsus crater. In the southeast is the prominent Arzachel crater, and to the west lies the flooded Lassell crater.

The most notable feature of this crater is the disproportionately large central peak, which forms a rounded rise that occupies almost the entire crater floor—one-third the crater diameter—and rises to a height of 2.0 km. There is evidence that this peak has been enlarged through volcanic eruptions, and there appears to be an eroded vent at its summit. The rim has fine terraces that slope down to near the edge of the central rise along the south and east sides. This outer wall is nearly round, with slight protrusions on the north and west sides.

The outer rim is joined to the southwest rim of Alphonsus by a rise in the surface. An arc of craterous depressions from the south rim of Alphonsus crater curses to the west, dividing Alpetagnius from Arzachel crater. To the west-northwest is the crater-like outline of Alpetragius X, now flooded by the mare and overlain across the east by ejecta from Alpetragius.

[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 Alpetragius crater.

Alpetragius	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
B	15.1° S	6.8° W	10 km
C	13.7° S	6.1° W	2 km
G	18.2° S	6.5° W	12 km
H	18.0° S	6.0° W	5 km
J	18.0° S	5.7° W	4 km
M	16.5° S	3.2° W	24 km
N	16.7° S	3.8° W	11 km
U	17.7° S	5.1° W	14 km
V	18.1° S	5.8° W	17 km
W	17.9° S	6.0° W	27 km
X	15.6° S	5.7° W	32 km

[edit] References

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• Blue, Jennifer (July 25, 2007). Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS. Retrieved on 2007-08-05.
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• Price, Fred W. (1988). The Moon Observer's Handbook. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521335000. 
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• Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes, 6th revision, Dover. ISBN 0-486-20917-2. 
• Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-62248-4. 
• Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer. ISBN 1852331933.