Pitatus (crater)
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| Crater characteristics | |
| Coordinates | 29.8° S, 13.5° W |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 97 km |
| Depth | 0.9 km |
| Colongitude | 13° at sunrise |
| Eponym | Pietro Pitati |
Pitatus is an ancient lunar impact crater located at the southern edge of Mare Nubium. Joined to the northwest rim is Hesiodus crater, and the two are joined by a narrow cleft. To the south lie the attached Wurzelbauer and Gauricus craters.
The complex wall of Pitatus is heavily worn, and has been encroached by lava flows. The rim is lowest to the north, where the lava almost joins the Mare Imbrium. Near the middle is a low central peak that is offset to the northwest of center. This peak only rises to a height of 0.5 km.
Pitatus is a floor-fractured crater, meaning it was flooded from the interior by magma intrusion through cracks and openings. (See also the Gassendi and Posidonius craters for similar features.) The flooded crater floor contains low hills in the east and a system of slender clefts named the Rimae Pitatus. The larger and more spectacular of these rilles follow the edges of the inner walls, especially in the northern and eastern halves. The floor also contains the faint traces of deposited ray markings.
Just to the north of Pitatus in the neighboring maria is the half-buried rim of a lesser crater, covered in the past when Mare Nubium was formed.
[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 Pitatus crater.
| Pitatus | Latitude | Longitude | Diameter |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 31.4° S | 13.2° W | 7 km |
| B | 32.3° S | 10.4° W | 16 km |
| C | 28.4° S | 12.4° W | 12 km |
| D | 30.9° S | 12.0° W | 10 km |
| E | 28.9° S | 10.1° W | 6 km |
| G | 29.8° S | 11.4° W | 18 km |
| H | 30.5° S | 15.7° W | 15 km |
| J | 26.5° S | 13.5° W | 5 km |
| K | 30.4° S | 8.9° W | 6 km |
| L | 29.1° S | 8.6° W | 5 km |
| M | 32.1° S | 11.0° W | 14 km |
| N | 31.2° S | 10.9° W | 21 km |
| P | 31.0° S | 10.9° W | 16 km |
| Q | 30.5° S | 10.8° W | 12 km |
| R | 31.1° S | 14.6° W | 7 km |
| S | 27.3° S | 14.0° W | 12 km |
| T | 29.4° S | 11.2° W | 5 km |
| V | 28.9° S | 11.7° W | 5 km |
| W | 27.9° S | 11.2° W | 13 km |
| X | 28.4° S | 11.6° W | 19 km |
| Z | 28.3° S | 10.3° W | 25 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.
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