Hypatia (crater)

Hypatia is a lunar crater that lies along the northwest edge of Sinus Asperitatis, a bay on the southwest edge of Mare Tranquillitatis. The nearest crater with an eponym is Alfraganus to the west-southwest. However, farther to the south-southeast, across the lunar mare, is the prominent crater Theophilus.

Hypatia is an asymmetrical formation with a rugged, irregular outer rim that is cut through by narrow clefts in several locations. It is generally longer along an axis running to the north-northwest, with the widest outward bulge occurring on the west side at the northern end. It resembles a merger of several crater formations that have gained a common interior floor. Attached to the exterior rim along the southwest is the satellite crater Hypatia A, a more symmetrical, bowl-shaped crater.

About 70 kilometers to the north of Hypatia is a system of linear rilles designated Rimae Hypatia. This runs for a length of about 180 kilometers across the Mare Tranquillitatis, and generally follows a course to the south-southeast.

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 Hypatia.

References