Posidonius (crater) explained
Posidonius is a lunar impact crater that is located on the north-eastern edge of Mare Serenitatis, to the south of Lacus Somniorum. It was named after ancient Greek philosopher and geographer Posidonius of Apamea. The crater Chacornac is attached to the southeast rim, and to the north is Daniell.
Description
The rim of Posidonius is shallow and obscured, especially on the western edge, and the interior has been overlain by a lava flow in the past. The crater ramparts can still be observed to the south and east of the crater rim, and to a lesser degree to the north.
There is a smaller, semi-circular rim of a concentric, flooded crater within the main rim, offset towards the eastern edge. There is no central peak, but the floor is hilly and laced with a rille system named the Rimae Posidonius. The floor is also slightly bulged due to the past lava uplift, which also likely produced the complex of rilles. The northeast rim is interrupted by the smaller crater Posidonius B. Within the crater rim, offset just to the west of center is another smaller crater Posidonius A.
Posidonius is a crater of Upper (Late) Imbrian age.[1]
On the Mare Serenitatis surface near Posidonius is a notable system of wrinkle ridges that parallel the nearby shore. These are designated the Dorsa Smirnov. At the peak of these ridges is a small crater, Posidonius Y, with a diameter of 2 km. This crater is surrounded by a patch of high-albedo material, its ray system. This peak was formerly designated Posidonius Gamma (γ).
Posidonius Gamma was first observed by the lunar cartographer Julius Schmidt in 1867, who noted the similarity to the bright patch surrounding the crater Linné.
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 Posidonius.
| Posidonius | Coordinates | Diameter, km |
|---|
| A | | 11.1 |
| B | | 14.1 |
| C | | 3.5 |
| E | | 3.1 |
| F | | 6.0 |
| G | | 4.8 |
| J | | 22.0 |
| M | | 9.3 |
| N | | 6.2 |
| P | | 14.7 |
| W | | 3.0 |
| Y | | 2.0 |
| Z | | 5.9 | |
References
- 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
- Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter pages with images:
- Web site: Meanders in Posidonius . Plescia J. . NASA/GSFC/LROC, School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University . 2013-02-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180130094850/http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/462 . 2018-01-30 . live. - especially on the rille Rimae Posidonius
- Web site: Posidonius Y . Braden S. . NASA/GSFC/LROC, School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University . 2011-10-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171005051815/http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/449 . 2017-10-05 . live.
- Web site: Rimae Posidonius . Ostrach L. . NASA/GSFC/LROC, School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University . 2010-12-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180531105109/http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/269 . 2018-05-31 . live.
Notes and References
- https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp1348 The geologic history of the Moon
