Albategnius (crater)

Albategnius
Lunar Orbiter 4 image
Coordinates11°12′S 4°06′E / 11.2°S 4.1°E / -11.2; 4.1
Diameter130.84[1] km
Depth3.2[2] km
Colongitude356° at sunrise
FormationNectarian[3]
EponymAl-Batani

Albategnius is an ancient lunar impact crater located in the central lunar highlands. It is south of the crater Hipparchus and to the east of both Ptolemaeus and Alphonsus. The surface in this area is marked by a set of nearly parallel scars that form channels running roughly in a north–south line, bent slightly to the southeast.[4][5]: 77 

Description

Albategnius is one of the largest craters of Nectarian age.[3] The level interior of Albategnius forms a walled plain, surrounded by the high, terraced rim. The outer wall is somewhat hexagon-shaped, and has been heavily eroded with impacts, valleys, and landslips. It attains a height above 4,000 metres along the northeast face. There is a crater chain along the northwest wall. The rim is broken in the southwest by the smaller crater Klein.[6][5]: 77 

Offset to the west of the crater's midpoint is its central peak, designated Alpha (α) Albategnius.[7] It is longest in extent in the north–south direction, extending for just under 20 kilometres, and has a width about half that. The peak rises to an altitude of roughly 1.5 km,[6] and a tiny, relatively fresh crater is at the top. The peak is only a fraction of the size observed of central peaks in comparable younger craters. This suggests the rise has been modified since it originally formed.[8]

Nomenclature

This crater is named after Mesopotamian Muslim astronomer and scientist Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Jābir ibn Sinān al-Raqqī al-Ḥarrānī aṣ-Ṣābiʾ al-Battānī (before 858 – 929), Latinized as Albategnius. Its designation was formally adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1935.[1]

Like many of the craters on the Moon's near side, this crater was given its name by Giovanni Riccioli, whose 1651 nomenclature system has become standardized.[9]: 61  Earlier lunar cartographers had given the feature different names. Michael van Langren's 1645 map calls it "Ferdinandi III Imp. Rom." after Ferdinand III, the Holy Roman Emperor.[9]: 198  Johannes Hevelius called it "Didymus Mons".[9]: 204 

Albategnius is believed to have been featured prominently in an early sketch drawing by Galileo in his book Sidereus Nuncius (1610), appearing along the lunar terminator.[10]

Satellite craters

Albategnius crater and its satellite craters taken from Earth at the University of Hertfordshire's Bayfordbury Observatory with the telescopes Meade LX200 14" and Lumenera Skynyx 2-1 (2012).

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Albategnius.[11]

Albategnius[5]: 291  Latitude Longitude Diameter
A 8.9° S 3.2° E 7 km
B 10.0° S 4.0° E 20 km
C 10.3° S 3.7° E 6 km
D 11.3° S 7.1° E 9 km
E 12.9° S 6.4° E 14 km
G 9.4° S 1.9° E 15 km
H 9.7° S 5.2° E 11 km
J 11.1° S 6.2° E 7 km
K 9.9° S 2.0° E 10 km
L 12.1° S 6.3° E 8 km
M 8.9° S 4.2° E 9 km
N 9.8° S 4.5° E 9 km
O 13.2° S 4.2° E 5 km
P 12.9° S 4.5° E 5 km
S 13.3° S 6.1° E 6 km
T 12.6° S 6.1° E 9 km

Albategnius B lies in the northern floor of the main crater.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Albategnius". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
  2. ↑ Pike, R. J. (September 1976). "Crater Dimensions from Apollo Data and Supplemental Sources". The Moon. 15 (3–4): 463–477. Bibcode:1976Moon...15..463P. doi:10.1007/BF00562253.
  3. 1 2 Wilhelms, Don E.; McCauley, John F.; Trask, Newell J. (1987). The geologic history of the Moon. USGS Professional Paper 1348. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office. Table 9-4.
  4. ↑ "LTO-77C1 Albategnius". Lunar & Planetary Institute. Retrieved 2026-05-09.
  5. 1 2 3 Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81528-4.
  6. 1 2 3 Grego, Peter (2005). The Moon and How to Observe It. Astronomers' Observing Guides. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 203. ISBN 978-1-84628-243-0.
  7. ↑ Grego, Peter (2004). Moon Observer's Guide. Firefly Books. p. 91. ISBN 978-1-55297-888-7.
  8. ↑ Head, J. W. (March 1975). "Processes of Lunar Crater Degradation: Changes in Style with Geologic Time". The Moon. 12 (3): 299–329. Bibcode:1975Moon...12..299H. doi:10.1007/BF02629699.
  9. 1 2 3 Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-62248-6.
  10. ↑ Di Mauro, Marco; et al., eds. (2024). Atti del XLIII Convegno annuale SISFA. FedOA - Federico II University Press. p. 86. ISBN 978-88-6887-256-4. Gingerich concluded that the only crater that could have anything to do with the one drawn by Galileo was the Albategnius crater that must have made an indelible impression on Galileo's mind.
  11. ↑ Grego, P. (2015). "Satellite Crater". In Hargitai, H.; Kereszturi, Á. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. New York, NY: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-3134-3_328.
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