Babbage (crater)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Crater characteristics | |
| Coordinates | 59.7° N, 57.1° W |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 143 km |
| Depth | 2.0 km |
| Colongitude | 61° at sunrise |
| Eponym | Charles Babbage |
Babbage is an ancient lunar crater that is located near the northwest limb of the Moon, named after Charles Babbage. It is attached to the southeastern rim of the prominent Pythagoras crater. The crater remnant named South intrudes into the southeastern floor of Babbage crater.
The outer rim of Babbage crater has been eroded and modified by a multitude of subsequent impacts, until all that remains is a ring of rounded hills. The most notable of these modifications is the satellite crater 'Babbage E', which overlays the southwestern rim. The northeast rim of this satellite crater is missing, and it forms a bay on the perimeter of the Babbage crater. The Oenopides crater is another worn formation attached to the southwest edge of this protuberance.
The outer rampart of the Pythagoras crater lies across the floor of Babbage, forming a region of rough terrain in the northwest part of the interior. The remainder of the crater floor is relatively flat, although it is marked by many tiny craterlets. The most notable feature on the floor is the satellite crater 'Babbage A', which lies in the southeast part of the interior. This feature has not been significantly worn, and appears much younger than the remainder of the formation. Just to the west of 'Babbage A' is the smaller 'Babbage C' crater, a bowl-shaped formation.
[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 Babbage crater.
| Babbage | Latitude | Longitude | Diameter |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 59.0° N | 55.1° W | 32 km |
| B | 57.1° N | 59.7° W | 7 km |
| C | 59.1° N | 57.3° W | 14 km |
| D | 58.6° N | 61.0° W | 68 km |
| E | 58.5° N | 61.4° W | 7 km |
| U | 60.9° N | 51.3° W | 5 km |
| X | 60.2° N | 49.9° W | 5 km |
[edit] References
- Andersson, L. E.; Whitaker, E. A., (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097.
- 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.
- Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 0-913135-17-8.
- 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.
