Dalton (crater)

Dalton
Lunar Orbiter 4 image
Coordinates17°06′N 84°18′W / 17.1°N 84.3°W / 17.1; -84.3
Diameter60.69 km (37.71 mi)[1]
DepthUnknown
Colongitude85° at sunrise
EponymJohn Dalton

Dalton is a lunar impact crater that is located near the western limb of the Moon's near side. At that location it appears significantly foreshortened when seen from the Earth, being observed almost from the side. It is best viewed just prior to a full Moon during a favorable libration.[2] Dalton is attached to the eastern rim of the walled plain named Einstein, with Balboa lying just to the north and Vasco da Gama due south.[3][4]

The rim of this crater is not heavily eroded, and the interior walls are terraced.[5] The interior floor has a system of fractures[6] that are generally concentric with the inner wall. There is a small crater near the southern inner wall, and another at the north face of the small central peak. The infrared spectrum of pure crystalline plagioclase has been identified on the central peak and southern rim.[7]

This crater is named after English chemist and physicist John Dalton (1766–1844).[8] His name was introduced into lunar nomenclature by David W. G. Arthur and Ewen Whitaker with the Rectified Lunar Atlas (1963).[3][9] Its designation was officially adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1964.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "Dalton". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program. Retrieved 2026-07-22.
  2. ↑ Grego, Peter (2005). The Moon and How to Observe It. Astronomers' Observing Guides Series. London: Springer-Verlag. p. 174. ISBN 1-85233-748-6.
  3. 1 2 Whitaker, E. A.; et al. (1963). Rectified Lunar Atlas: Supplement No. 2 to the Photographic Lunar Atlas. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. Retrieved 2026-06-01. See Field 10.
  4. ↑ Byrne, Charles J. (2008). The Far Side of the Moon. Springer. pp. 174–175. ISBN 978-1-4899-8806-5.
  5. ↑ Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 37. 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. ↑ Donaldson Hanna, K. L.; et al. (July 2014). "Global assessment of pure crystalline plagioclase across the Moon and implications for the evolution of the primary crust". Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. 119 (7): 1516–1545. Bibcode:2014JGRE..119.1516D. doi:10.1002/2013JE004476.
  8. ↑ 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. 182.
  9. ↑ Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. p. 225. ISBN 978-0-521-62248-6.
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.