Cayley (crater) explained
Cayley is a small lunar impact crater that is located in a lava-flooded region to the west of Mare Tranquillitatis. It was named after the 19th-century English mathematician Arthur Cayley. It lies to the northwest of the smaller crater De Morgan and the larger D'Arrest. West and slightly north of Cayley is Whewell, a crater of about the same dimensions. To the north is a linear rille designated Rima Ariadaeus, which follows a course to the east-southeast.
Description
This is a circular, bowl-shaped formation with a small interior floor at the midpoint. (Small being relative to the overall diameter, as it occupies about one-fourth the total cross-section.) The sloping interior walls are relatively light in hue, having a higher albedo as the surrounding terrain. However it is not nearly as bright as the slightly larger crater Dionysius to the east-southeast, and lacks a ray system.
The smooth, rolling plains to the east of this crater are called the Cayley Formation. It is somewhat similar to the lunar maria, but has a slightly higher albedo and is overlapped at the eastern edge by the Mare Tranquillitatis. Lunar scientists suspect that this plain may have resulted from deposits of ejecta from the formation of large impact basins such as Mare Imbrium or Mare Orientale.[1] (The most likely source is the Mare Imbrium impact basin to the northwest.)
Cayley is a crater of Eratosthenian age.[2]
References
- Book: Harland, D. M. . 1999 . Exploring the Moon: The Apollo Expeditions . Springer . 1-85233-099-6 .
- Web site: Masursky, H. . Colton, G. W. . Farouk, E.-B. . 1978 . Apollo Over the Moon: A View from Orbit (NASA SP-362) . . 2006-08-10 . 2006-10-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061011095207/http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-362/ch3.2.htm . dead . - see Fig. 46
- Wood . Charles A. . Looking Between Craters . Sky & Telescope . March 2006 . 111 . 3 . 58 . 2006S&T...111c..58W .
- Book: Andersson . L. E. . Whitaker . E. A. . Ewen Whitaker . 1982 . NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature . NASA RP-1097 .
- 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 .
External links
- Cayley at The Moon Wiki (now defunct)
- Web site: Wood . Chuck . December 12, 2006 . How Deep is That Hole . Lunar Photo of the Day. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110614233616/http://www.lpod.org/?m=20061211. June 14, 2011. - includes a couple of craters such as Cayley
- Web site: Wood . Chuck . 2007-08-15 . A Formation of Surprise . Lunar Photo of the Day . 2007-07-15 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070927004844/http://www.lpod.org/?m=20070815 . 2007-09-27 .
Notes and References
- Lunar Light Plains Deposits (Cayley Formation)--A Reinterpretation of Origin. E. C. T. Chao, L. A. Soderblom, J. M. Boyce, Don E. Wilhelms, and Carroll Ann Hodges. Abstracts of papers submitted to the Fourth Lunar Science Conference, March 5-8, 1973.
- https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp1348 The geologic history of the Moon
