de Gerlache (crater)

De Gerlache
de Gerlache crater as imaged by Clementine.
Coordinates88°30′S 87°06′W / 88.5°S 87.1°W / -88.5; -87.1
Diameter32.4 km (20.1 mi)[1]
Depth7.5 km (4.7 mi)[2]
Colongitude105° at sunrise
EponymAdrien de Gerlache

de Gerlache is a lunar impact crater that is located along the southern limb of the Moon, within a crater diameter of Shackleton at the south pole. From the Earth this crater is seen from the edge, and it lies in perpetual darkness. Thus little or no detail can be seen of this crater, other than the edge of the rim. However, the crater is clearly visible in Earth-based radar images.[3]

The crater is roughly circular, with some slight wear. It has a diameter of 32.4 km[1] and a depth of 7.5 km. The interior includes a smaller impact crater in the northwest quadrant, and some arc-shaped features that may be the result of slope movement.[2] A pocket within the crater interior is permanently shadowed from the Sun, thereby functioning as a cold trap where carbon dioxide ice can potentially remain without sublimating.[4]

No craters of note overlie the rim, but a larger crater named after Matthew Henson (1866–1955) is joined to the western rim. Attached to the southern rim is the small crater Marvin, and a crater named after Paul Spudis (1952–2018) lies further south toward Shackleton.[5][6][7] A ridge connecting de Gerlacke with Shackleton is of potential interest for a future lander mission due to its favorable illumination conditions.[8]

This formation was identified by Jean-Luc Margot and Donald B. Campbell, who jointly proposed the name to the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The name, honoring the Belgian explorer Adrien de Gerlache (1866-1934), was adopted by the IAU in 2000.[1] In April 2023, a smaller crater on the floor of de Gerlache was named after Canadian–American rocket and jet propulsion engineer Yvonne Brill (1924–2013) by the IAU.[9]

de Gerlache crater as imaged by LRO.
de Gerlache crater as imaged by Earth-based radar.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "de Gerlache". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
  2. 1 2 Kereszturi, A.; et al. (December 2022). "Characteristics of de Gerlache crater, site of girlands and slope exposed ice in a lunar polar depression". Icarus. 388. id. 115231. Bibcode:2022Icar..38815231K. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2022.115231. hdl:10831/113875.
  3. ↑ Margot, J. L.; Campbell, D. B.; Jurgens, R. F.; Slade, M. A. (1999). "Topography of the Lunar Poles from Radar Interferometry: A Survey of Cold Trap Locations". Science. 284 (5420): 1658–1660. Bibcode:1999Sci...284.1658M. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.485.312. doi:10.1126/science.284.5420.1658. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 10356393. {{cite journal}}: Cite uses deprecated parameter |citeseerx= (help)
  4. ↑ Schorghofer, Norbert; et al. (October 2021). "Carbon Dioxide Cold Traps on the Moon". Geophysical Research Letters. 48 (20). id. e95533. Bibcode:2021GeoRL..4895533S. doi:10.1029/2021GL095533.
  5. ↑ "LAC 144" (PDF). Gazeteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Retrieved 2026-07-29.
  6. ↑ Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-521-81528-4.
  7. ↑ "Lunar Crater Named After Arctic Explorer Matthew Henson by International Astronomical Union, Accepting NASA/LPI Proposal". NASA. September 20, 2021. Archived from the original on October 3, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  8. ↑ Gläser, P.; et al. (2014). "Illumination conditions at the lunar south pole using high resolution Digital Terrain Models from LOLA". Icarus. 243: 78–90. Bibcode:2014Icar..243...78G. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2014.08.013.
  9. ↑ "Brill". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
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.