Peirce (crater)

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Crater characteristics
Peirce (center) from Apollo 17. NASA photo.
Coordinates	18.3° N, 53.5° E
Diameter	18 km
Depth	1.8 km
Colongitude	307° at sunrise
Eponym	Benjamin Peirce

Peirce is a small lunar crater that lies in the western part of Mare Crisium. That dark, circular lunar mare is located in the east-northeasterly part of the Moon's near side. Peirce lies to the north of Yerkes and Picard craters, and southeast of Macrobius crater located outside the mare. Just over a crater diameter to the north of Peirce is the smaller Swift crater.

The rim of Peirce is roughly circular, with a slight outward bulge along the northwestern rim. There are indications of slumping along the sides of this section, producing a wider inner wall. It is generally bowl-shaped, and is marked only by a tiny craterlet along the inner southeast rim. The interior is marked by several furrows, ridges, as well as a low, conical hill near the mid-point.

[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 Peirce crater.

Peirce	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
C	18.8° N	49.9° E	19 km

The following craters have been renamed by the IAU.

Peirce B — See Swift crater.

[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.
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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.
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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.