Repsold (crater)

Summary

Repsold is a lunar impact crater that is located at the western end of the Oceanus Procellarum. It lies to the northeast of the crater Galvani and southeast of the walled plain Volta. Due to its proximity to the northwestern limb of the Moon, this crater appears highly foreshortened when viewed from the Earth. It is named after Johann Georg Repsold (1770 – 1830), a German astronomer.

Repsold
Coordinates51°24′N 78°30′W / 51.4°N 78.5°W / 51.4; -78.5
Diameter107 km
DepthUnknown
Colongitude80° at sunrise
EponymJohann G. Repsold

This crater has been heavily damaged by impacts and much of the rim has disintegrated, leaving a rugged region of small craters. The most intact section of the rim is in the southeastern part, which separates this formation from the adjacent mare. The satellite crater Repsold G overlies the southwestern part of the crater.

The interior floor of Repsold contains a system of rilles named the Rimae Repsold. The most prominent of these rifts begins in the northeastern part of the floor and crosses to the southwest. The cleft then traverses Repsold G, dividing it into two, and continues west-southwest until it penetrates into the floor of Galvani. The entire rille system has a diameter of 166 kilometers.

Much of the floor of Repsold is level terrain formed by flows of basaltic lava, which then cracked to form the rille system. However the floor is marked by several small craters and there are some areas containing low ridges, including a small range in the eastern floor.

Satellite craters edit

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

Repsold Latitude Longitude Diameter
A 51.8° N 77.0° W 9 km
B 53.2° N 75.8° W 38 km
C 48.9° N 73.6° W 133 km
G 50.5° N 70.6° W 44 km
H 51.7° N 81.6° W 12 km
N 49.0° N 78.2° W 14 km
R 49.8° N 72.2° W 13 km
S 47.8° N 75.2° W 9 km
T 47.7° N 79.9° W 13 km
V 50.8° N 75.4° W 7 km
W 52.6° N 79.8° W 10 km

References edit

  • Andersson, L. E.; Whitaker, E. A. (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097.
  • Blue, Jennifer (July 25, 2007). "Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature". USGS. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
  • Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81528-4.
  • Cocks, Elijah E.; Cocks, Josiah C. (1995). Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature. Tudor Publishers. ISBN 978-0-936389-27-1.
  • 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. S2CID 122125855.
  • Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-304-35469-6.
  • 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.

External links edit

  • Wood, Chuck (November 8, 2007). "The Flood Begins". Lunar Photo of the Day. Retrieved 2007-11-08.