Peirce (crater)

Peirce

Apollo 17 mapping camera image
Coordinates 18°18′N 53°30′E / 18.3°N 53.5°E / 18.3; 53.5Coordinates: 18°18′N 53°30′E / 18.3°N 53.5°E / 18.3; 53.5
Diameter 18 km
Depth 1.8 km
Colongitude 307° at sunrise
Eponym Benjamin Peirce
Oblique view from Apollo 17, facing north
Peirce (center) and Swift (above center), from Apollo 17. The rays from the left are from Proclus. NASA photo.

Peirce is a small lunar crater, named in honor of the mathematician Benjamin Peirce, which 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 the craters Yerkes and Picard, and southeast of Macrobius located outside the mare. Just over a crater diameter to the north (21-22 km) of Peirce is the smaller Swift. About 25 km west is a wrinkly ridge known as Dorsum Oppel.

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 midpoint.

Satellite craters

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Peirce.

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

The following craters have been renamed by the IAU.

References

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  • McDowell, Jonathan (July 15, 2007). "Lunar Nomenclature". Jonathan's Space Report. Retrieved 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 (2): 136–186. Bibcode:1971SSRv...12..136M. doi:10.1007/BF00171763. 
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  • Price, Fred W. (1988). The Moon Observer's Handbook. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-33500-3. 
  • Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 978-0-913135-17-4. 
  • Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes (6th revised ed.). Dover. ISBN 978-0-486-20917-3. 
  • Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-62248-6. 
  • Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer. ISBN 978-1-85233-193-1. 
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