Balboa (lunar crater)

Balboa
Lunar Orbiter 4 image
Coordinates19°06′N 83°12′W / 19.1°N 83.2°W / 19.1; -83.2
Diameter69.19 km (42.99 mi)[1]
DepthUnknown
Colongitude84° at sunrise
EponymVasco N. De Balboa

Balboa is a lunar impact crater that is located near the western limb of the Moon. It is best viewed prior to full Moon during favorable librations.[2] Due to foreshortening, the crater appears highly oval when viewed from the Earth. In actuality, however, the formation is relatively circular.[3] It is comparable in size to the crater Dalton, located just to the southwest. The eastern rim of Balboa lies just to the west of the Oceanus Procellarum.[4]

The rim of Balboa is worn and eroded, with the most intact sections along the eastern and western edges.[5]: 37  The crater interior has been flooded with basaltic lava in the past, and the floor is marked fractures.[6] Nearby Dalton and an unnamed crater northwest of satellite crater Balboa B are similarly fractured. Balboa A is a well-formed impact crater located just to the southeast of Balboa, with a sharp, notched rim and an irregular interior. Its diameter is only somewhat smaller than Dalton directly to the west.

The crater Balboa is named after Spanish explorer Vasco N. De Balboa (1475-1519), who was the first European to view the Pacific Ocean from its eastern shores in 1513.[7] Its designation was officially adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1964.[1] The name was introduced into lunar nomenclature by David W. G. Arthur and Ewen Whitaker with the Rectified Lunar Atlas (1963).[8][3]

Satellite craters

Satellite craters of Balboa, with Dalton
Balboa A crater

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Balboa.[9]

Balboa[5]: 292  Latitude Longitude Diameter
A 17.4° N 81.9° W 47 km
B 20.3° N 82.3° W 62 km
C 19.6° N 79.1° W 27 km
D 18.2° N 79.7° W 40 km

References

  1. 1 2 "Balboa". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
  2. ↑ Grego, Peter (2005). The Moon and How to Observe It. Astronomers' Observing Guides Series. London: Springer-Verlag. p. 166. ISBN 1-85233-748-6.
  3. 1 2 Whitaker, E. A.; Kuiper, G. P.; Hartmann, W. K. (1963). Rectified lunar atlas. Contributions of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. Bibcode:1963rla..book.....W. See Field 10.
  4. ↑ "LAC 37" (PDF). Lunar Astronautical Chart. Gazetter of Planetary Nomenclature. Retrieved 2026-05-30.
  5. 1 2 Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81528-4.
  6. ↑ 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. doi:10.3133/pp1348.
  7. ↑ Menzel, D. H.; et al. (1971). "Report on Lunar Nomenclature by the Working Group of Commission 17 of the IAU". Space Science Reviews. 12 (2): 136–186. Bibcode:1971SSRv...12..136M. doi:10.1007/BF00171763. S2CID 122125855. See p. 181.
  8. ↑ Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. p. 234. ISBN 978-0-521-62248-6.
  9. ↑ 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.

Sources

  • Price, Fred W. (1988). The Moon Observer's Handbook. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-33500-3.
  • Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 978-0-913135-17-4.
  • Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer. ISBN 978-1-85233-193-1.
  • Wikimedia Commons logo Media related to Balboa (crater) at Wikimedia Commons
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