Saussure (crater)

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Crater characteristics
Coordinates	43.3° S, 3.8° W
Diameter	54 km
Depth	1.8 km
Colongitude	187° at sunrise
Eponym	Horace B. de Saussure

Saussure is a lunar crater. It is located in the crater-riddled terrain in the southern hemisphere of the Moon's near side. Just to the north and nearly attached to the rim is the larger Orontius crater. About a half crater diameter due west is the slightly larger Pictet crater. Just to the east is a curving ridge in the surface, possibly the remains of a crater that has been almost completely overlaid by Saussure.

The outer rim of this crater is worn but relatively intact, with only the southern edge being somewhat disrupted. A small impact lies across the northeastern rim and a pair of craterlets along the western edge. The inner walls are relatively featureless, and slope down to the generally level interior floor. This bottom surface is marked only by a few tiny craters.

[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 Saussure crater.

Saussure	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
A	43.8° S	0.5° W	19 km
B	42.2° S	3.9° W	5 km
C	44.8° S	0.6° W	16 km
Ca	45.2° S	0.5° W	16 km
D	46.9° S	0.2° E	20 km
E	44.7° S	2.1° W	12 km
F	44.3° S	4.6° W	4 km

[edit] References

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• Blue, Jennifer (July 25, 2007). Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS. Retrieved on 2007-08-05.
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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.