Bullialdus (crater)

Bullialdus
Lunar Orbiter 4 image
Coordinates20°42′S 22°12′W / 20.7°S 22.2°W / -20.7; -22.2
Diameter61 km (38 mi)[1]
Depth3.5 km (2.2 mi)
Colongitude2° at sunrise
FormationEratosthenian[2]
EponymIsmaël Boulliau
Oblique view facing south from Apollo 16
Another Oblique view from Apollo 16
Bullialdus crater as viewed from earth, below left of center

Bullialdus is a lunar impact crater located in the western part of the Mare Nubium. T. W. Webb calls it a "grand crater ... with a quadruple central hill".[3] Patrick Moore said this is, "a particularly fine crater; it has been described as a miniature Copernicus,"[4] a reference to Copernicus crater. To the north by north-west of Bullialdus is the broken-rimmed and lava-flooded crater Lubiniezky. South-west of Bullialdus lies the smaller crater König.

This crater is named after French astronomer Ismaël Boulliau (1605-1694). His name was incorporated into lunar nomenclature by Italian astronomer Giovanni B. Riccioli in 1651.[5] Its designation was formally adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1935.[1]

Description

The relatively isolated location of this crater serves to highlight its well-formed shape. Bullialdus has a high outer rim that is circular but observers have noted a slightly polygonal appearance. The inner walls are terraced and contain many signs of landslips. The outer ramparts are covered in a wide ejecta blanket that highlights a radial pattern of low ridges and valleys.[4][6]

On the lunar geologic timescale, Bullialdus is a crater of Eratosthenian age.[2] In the center of the crater is a formation of several peaks and rises that climb to over a kilometer in height. A raised ridge runs from the peaks to the south-east, until finally merging with the inner wall. The floor of the crater is generally rough with many low rises. The level part of the floor is covered in lava that is younger than the impact.[7] Overall it has a somewhat convex shape, bulging upward toward the middle. When the Sun is at a high angle, the rim and central mountains appear brighter than the surroundings, and white patches can be viewed on the crater floor.

Infrared studies of the crater region have revealed at least three layers of strata. The impact may also have intersected a mafic pluton, which means a crystallized body of igneous rock that has high concentrations of heavier elements (such as magnesium, in this case).[8] The spectra of the orthopyroxene-rich central peak fits a gabbroic norite mineralogy, which originated from a depth of 6.0 to 9.2 km.[9] Hydroxyl-bearing magmatic material has been detected in the crater, which was likely excavated from below the surface during the impact.[10]

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 Bullialdus.[11] Bullialdus A lies just to the south-west of Bullialdus, within its ramparts.[6] To the south of Bullialdus A is the slightly smaller Bullialdus B.

Bullialdus[12]: 294  Latitude Longitude Diameter
A 22.1° S 21.5° W 26 km
B 23.4° S 21.9° W 21 km
E 21.7° S 23.9° W 4 km
F 22.5° S 24.8° W 6 km
G 23.2° S 23.6° W 4 km
H 22.7° S 19.3° W 5 km
K 21.8° S 25.6° W 12 km
L 20.2° S 24.4° W 4 km
R 20.1° S 19.8° W 17 km
Y 18.5° S 19.1° W 4 km

References

  1. 1 2 "Bullialdus". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
  2. 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. doi:10.3133/pp1348. Table 12.2.
  3. ↑ Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes (6th revised ed.). Dover. pp. 136, 154–159. Reprint: ISBN 978-0-486-20917-3
  4. 1 2 Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co. p. 204. ISBN 978-0-304-35469-6.
  5. ↑ Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. pp. 60, 211. ISBN 978-0-521-62248-6.
  6. 1 2 Grego, Peter (2005). The Moon and How to Observe It. Astronomers' Observing Guides Series. London: Springer-Verlag. p. 175. ISBN 1-85233-748-6.
  7. ↑ Wood, Chuck (May 3, 2004). "Bully for Bullialdus". Lunar Photo of the Day. Lunar Photo of the Day. Archived from the original on May 30, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  8. ↑ Tompkins, Stefanie; et al. (1993). Distribution and geologic history of materials excavated by the lunar crater Bullialdus. Abstracts of the 24th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, held in Houston, TX, 15-19 March 1993. p. 1433. Bibcode:1993LPI....24.1433T.
  9. ↑ Cahill, J. T. S.; et al. (September 2009). "Compositional variations of the lunar crust: Results from radiative transfer modeling of central peak spectra". Journal of Geophysical Research. 114 (E9) E09001. Bibcode:2009JGRE..114.9001C. doi:10.1029/2008JE003282.
  10. ↑ Klima, R.; et al. (September 2013). "Remote detection of magmatic water in Bullialdus Crater on the Moon". Nature Geoscience. 6 (9): 737–741. Bibcode:2013NatGe...6..737K. doi:10.1038/ngeo1909.
  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.
  12. ↑ Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-521-81528-4.

Further reading

  • Klima, R. L.; et al. (July 2012). Bullialdus Crater: Excavation and Exposure of an Mg- or Alkali-Suite Pluton?. Second Conference on the Lunar Highlands Crust, held July 13-15, 2012, in Bozeman, Montana. LPI Contribution No. 1677. pp. 33–34. Bibcode:2012LPICo1677...33K.
  • Klima, R. L.; et al. (March 2012). Bullialdus Crater: Correlations Between KREEP and Local Mineralogy. 43rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, held March 19-23, 2012 at The Woodlands, Texas. LPI Contribution No. 1659. id. 2517. Bibcode:2012LPI....43.2517K.
  • Tompkins, Stefanie; et al. (August 1994). "Distribution of Materials Excavated by the Lunar Crater Bullialdus and Implications for the Geologic History of the Nubium Region". Icarus. 110 (2): 261–271. Bibcode:1994Icar..110..261T. doi:10.1006/icar.1994.1120.
  • Pieters, Carle M. (November 1991). "Bullialdus: Strengthening the case for lunar plutons". Geophysical Research Letters. 18 (11): 2129–2132. Bibcode:1991GeoRL..18.2129P. doi:10.1029/91GL02668.
  • Central Peak of Bullialdus Crater, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, Posted by Samuel Lawrence on May 11, 2010.
  • Bullialdus Central Peak Oblique, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, Posted by Sarah Braden on January 23, 2013.
  • Wikimedia Commons logo Media related to Bullialdus (crater) at Wikimedia Commons
  • Wood, Chuck (August 23, 2004). "Almost on the Ground". Lunar Photo of the Day. Archived from the original on May 30, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  • Wood, Chuck (April 23, 2006). "Clumps and Tadpoles". Lunar Photo of the Day. Archived from the original on June 14, 2011.
  • Wood, Chuck (June 23, 2006). "Bullialdus' Ridge". Lunar Photo of the Day. Archived from the original on June 14, 2011.
  • Wood, Chuck (January 31, 2010). "Spotted Moon". Lunar Photo of the Day. Archived from the original on January 14, 2015. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.