Cassini (lunar crater)
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- This is about the lunar crater; for the Martian one, see Cassini (Martian crater).
| Crater characteristics | |
| Coordinates | 40.2° N, 4.6° E |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 57 km |
| Depth | 1.2 km |
| Colongitude | 356° at sunrise |
| Eponym | Giovanni D. Cassini Jacques Cassini |
Cassini is a lunar impact crater that is located in the Palus Nebularum, at the eastern end of Mare Imbrium. To the northeast is the Promontorium Agassiz, the southern tip of the Montes Alpes mountain range. South by south-east of Cassini is the Theaetetus crater. To the northwest is the lone peak Mons Piton.
The floor of the crater is flooded, and is likely as old as the surrounding maria. The surface is peppered with a multitude of impacts, including a pair of significant craters contained entirely within the rim. Cassini A is the larger of these two, and it lies just north-east of the crater center. A hilly ridge area runs from this inner crater toward the south-east. Near the south-west rim of Cassini is the smaller crater Cassini B.
The walls of this crater are narrow and irregular in form but remain intact despite the lava flooding. Beyond the crater rim is a significant and irregular outer rampart.
For unknown reasons, this crater was omitted from early maps of the Moon. This crater is not of recent origin, however, so the omission was most likely an error on the part of the map-makers.
[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 Cassini crater.
| Cassini | Latitude | Longitude | Diameter |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 40.5° N | 4.8° E | 15 km |
| B | 39.9° N | 3.9° E | 9 km |
| C | 41.7° N | 7.8° E | 14 km |
| E | 42.9° N | 7.3° E | 10 km |
| F | 40.9° N | 7.3° E | 7 km |
| G | 44.7° N | 5.5° E | 5 km |
| K | 45.2° N | 4.1° E | 4 km |
| L | 44.0° N | 4.5° E | 6 km |
| M | 41.3° N | 3.7° E | 8 km |
| P | 44.7° N | 1.9° E | 4 km |
| W | 42.3° N | 4.3° E | 6 km |
| X | 43.9° N | 7.9° E | 4 km |
| Y | 41.9° N | 2.2° E | 3 km |
| Z | 43.4° N | 2.3° E | 4 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.
