Autolycus (crater)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Crater characteristics | |
 Crater as seen from Apollo 15. NASA photo. |
|
| Coordinates | 30.7° N, 1.5° E |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 39 km |
| Depth | 3.4 km |
| Colongitude | 358° at sunrise |
| Eponym | Autolycus |
Autolycus is a lunar impact crater that is located in the southeast part of Mare Imbrium. West of the formation is the Archimedes crater, a formation more than double the size of Autolycus. Just to the north is the Aristillus crater, and the outer ramparts of these two craters overlap in the intermediate stretch of the lunar mare.
The rim of Autolycus is somewhat irregular, although generally circular overall. It has a small outer rampart and an irregular interior with no central peak. It possesses a light ray system that extends for a distance of over 400 kilometers. Some of the ray material appears to overlay the flooded floor of Archimedes crater.
The Luna 2 probe crash-landed just to the west-southwest of the crater rim.
[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 Autolycus crater.
| Autolycus | Latitude | Longitude | Diameter |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 30.9° N | 2.2° E | 4 km |
| K | 31.2° N | 5.4° E | 3 km |
[edit] References
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- Blue, Jennifer (July 25, 2007). Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS. Retrieved on 2007-08-05.
- Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-81528-2.
- Cocks, Elijah E.; Cocks, Josiah C. (1995). Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature. Tudor Publishers. ISBN 0-936389-27-3.
- McDowell, Jonathan (July 15, 2007). Lunar Nomenclature. Jonathan's Space Report. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
- Menzel, D. H.; Minnaert, M.; Levin, B.; Dollfus, A.; Bell, B. (1971). "Report on Lunar Nomenclature by The Working Group of Commission 17 of the IAU". Space Science Reviews 12: 136.
- Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co.. ISBN 0-304-35469-4.
- Price, Fred W. (1988). The Moon Observer's Handbook. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521335000.
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- 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.
