Jump to content

Meitner (lunar crater)

Coordinates: 10°30′S 112°42′E / 10.5°S 112.7°E / -10.5; 112.7
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Meitner
Coordinates10°30′S 112°42′E / 10.5°S 112.7°E / -10.5; 112.7
Diameter87 km
DepthUnknown
Colongitude248° at sunrise
EponymLise Meitner
Oblique Apollo 17 Mapping Camera image, facing south
The interior of Meitner from Apollo 8

Meitner is an impact crater on the far side of the Moon, behind the eastern limb. It lies to the northwest of the crater Kondratyuk, and about a crater diameter to the west of Langemak.

This crater has relatively well-defined features that have not been significantly eroded by subsequent impacts. The rim edge is roughly circular, with a slight outward bulge along the southern edge. The small satellite crater Meitner C lies across the rim and inner wall to the northeast. Sections of the inner wall display terrace features. The interior floor of Meitner is relatively level, with a small craterlet just to the southwest of the midpoint and another along the northwest inner wall.

Apollo 8, the first crewed mission to orbit the Moon, happened to fly directly over Meitner (among many other craters) and obtained high-resolution photographs of the interior.

Prior to formal naming by the IAU in 1970,[1] Meitner was called Crater 276.[2]

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 Meitner.

Meitner Latitude Longitude Diameter
A 8.1° S 113.5° E 17 km
C 9.7° S 113.7° E 19 km
H 11.9° S 116.0° E 13 km
J 12.1° S 115.1° E 15 km
R 12.0° S 109.4° E 16 km

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Meitner, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)
  2. ^ Lunar Farside Chart (LFC-1A), 2nd Edition October 1967
  • 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.
[edit]