Carnot (crater) explained

Coordinates:	52.09°N -144.2°W
Diameter:	126.06 km
Depth:	Unknown
Colong:	146
Eponym:	Nicolas L. S. Carnot

Carnot is a large crater in the northern part of the Moon's far side. It was named after Nicolas L. S. Carnot by the IAU in 1970.^[1]

The outer rim of Carnot has a somewhat hexagonal form, particularly in the southern half. The northern rim has an irregular inner wall, while the southern face is terraced and has a sharper outer edge. There is some slumping along the rim edge to the southeast, producing outward bulges in the perimeter. The western inner wall is partly overlaid by three small, cup-shaped craters. Within the rim, the crater floor is flat and level, at least in comparison to the rugged terrain around the exterior. Just to the southeast of the crater midpoint is a central peak formation. The interior floor is marked by several small and numerous tiny craters. The most prominent of the craters on the floor is a small, shallow crater near the southern inner wall.

Carnot intrudes into the southern rim of the huge walled plain Birkhoff. To the west-southwest of Carnot is the crater Paraskevopoulos.

Carnot is a crater of Nectarian age.^[2]

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 Carnot.

References

• Book: Andersson . L. E. . Whitaker . E. A. . Ewen Whitaker . 1982 . NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature . NASA RP-1097 .
• Web site: Blue . Jennifer . July 25, 2007 . Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature . . 2007-08-05 .
• Book: Bussey . B. . Ben Bussey . Spudis . P. . Paul Spudis . 2004 . The Clementine Atlas of the Moon . . New York . 978-0-521-81528-4 .
• Book: Cocks . Elijah E. . Cocks . Josiah C. . 1995 . Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature . Tudor Publishers . 978-0-936389-27-1 .
• Web site: McDowell . Jonathan . July 15, 2007 . Lunar Nomenclature . . 2007-10-24 .
• Menzel. D. H.. Minnaert. M.. Levin. B.. Dollfus. A.. Bell. B.. Report on Lunar Nomenclature by the Working Group of Commission 17 of the IAU. 10.1007/BF00171763. Space Science Reviews. 12. 2. 136–186. 1971. 1971SSRv...12..136M. 122125855.
• Book: Moore , Patrick . Patrick Moore . 2001 . On the Moon . . 978-0-304-35469-6 .
• Book: Price , Fred W. . 1988 . The Moon Observer's Handbook . Cambridge University Press . 978-0-521-33500-3 .
• Book: Rükl , Antonín . Antonín Rükl . 1990 . Atlas of the Moon . . 978-0-913135-17-4 .
• Book: Webb , Rev. T. W. . Thomas William Webb . 1962 . Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes . 6th revised . Dover . 978-0-486-20917-3 .
• Book: Whitaker , Ewen A. . Ewen Whitaker . 1999 . Mapping and Naming the Moon . Cambridge University Press . 978-0-521-62248-6 .
• Book: Wlasuk , Peter T. . 2000 . Observing the Moon . Springer . 978-1-85233-193-1 .

Notes and References

1. http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/1023 Carnot
2. https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp1348 The geologic history of the Moon