Nishina (crater) explained

Coordinates:	-44.6°N -170.4°W
Diameter:	65 km
Depth:	Unknown
Colong:	172
Eponym:	Yoshio Nishina

Nishina is the remnant of a lunar impact crater that is located in the southern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. It lies to the south-southwest of the crater Maksutov, to the southeast of Finsen and Leibniz.

The rim of this formation has been eroded, worn down, and reshaped by a history of impacts, leaving an irregular, indented perimeter surrounding the crater floor. The interior of the formation has been resurfaced by basaltic lava, leaving a level, nearly featureless surface that contains no impacts of note. While the interior surface has a low albedo and appears dark, it has been coated by ray material which has produced lighter patches to the southwest and northeast.

Prior to formal naming in 1970 by the IAU,^[1] the crater was known as Crater 436.^[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 Nishina.

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

. 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

. Antonín Rükl . 1990 . Atlas of the Moon . . 978-0-913135-17-4 .

• Book: Webb , Rev. T. W. . Thomas William Webb

. Thomas William Webb . 1962 . Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes . 6th revised . Dover . 978-0-486-20917-3 .

• Book: Whitaker , Ewen A. . Ewen Whitaker

. 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/4310 Nishina
2. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog/LunarFarsideCharts/LFC-1%201stEd/LFC-1%202ndEd/LFC-1A/ Lunar Farside Chart (LFC-1A)