Main (lunar crater)
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| Crater characteristics | |
| 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
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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.
- 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.
