Flamsteed (crater)

Flamsteed
	Lunar Orbiter 4 image
Coordinates	4°30′S 44°18′W / 4.5°S 44.3°W
Diameter	19.34 km (12.02 mi)
Depth	2.16 km
Colongitude	44° at sunrise
Formation	Eratosthenian
Eponym	John Flamsteed

Flamsteed P (ring of hills), from Lunar Orbiter 4

Oblique view of Flamsteed P, facing southwest. From Lunar Orbiter 3.

Flamsteed is a small lunar impact crater located on the Oceanus Procellarum, which is named after British astronomer John Flamsteed.^[1] It lies almost due east of the dark-hued Grimaldi, and north-northwest of the flooded Letronne bay on the south edge of the mare. T. W. Webb called this "a crater combined with a circle of banks" that "looks like an overflowed ring".^[4]

On the lunar geologic timescale, Flamsteed is a crater of Eratosthenian age.^[3] The rim of this crater is not circular in form, having a bulging rim to the southeast. The interior is relatively flat and undistinguished by impacts. The crater lies within the southern rim of a crater that has been almost completely submerged by the basaltic lava flows that formed the Oceanus Procellarum. All that remains of this feature designated Flamsteed P are some low ridges and hills arranged in a circular formation.

The Surveyor 1 craft landed within the northeast rim of the buried Flamsteed P feature,^[5] about 50 kilometers north-northeast of the Flamsteed crater rim.

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 Flamsteed.

Flamsteed	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
A	7.9° S	42.9° W	11 km
B	5.9° S	43.7° W	10 km
C	5.5° S	46.3° W	9 km
D	3.2° S	44.9° W	6 km
E	3.7° S	46.1° W	2 km
F	4.7° S	41.1° W	5 km
G	4.8° S	50.9° W	46 km
H	5.9° S	51.7° W	4 km
J	6.6° S	49.3° W	5 km
K	3.1° S	43.7° W	4 km
L	3.4° S	40.9° W	4 km
M	2.4° S	40.6° W	4 km
P	3.2° S	44.1° W	112 km
S	3.4° S	52.2° W	4 km
T	3.1° S	51.6° W	24 km
U	3.6° S	50.2° W	4 km
X	2.3° S	47.3° W	3 km
Z	1.3° S	47.8° W	3 km

References

1 2 "Flamsteed". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
↑ 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.
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.
↑ 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
↑ "55 Years Ago: Surveyor 1 Makes A Soft Landing on the Moon". NASA, Johnson Space Center. June 2, 2021. Retrieved 2026-05-19.

Sources

Andersson, L. E.; Whitaker, E. A. (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097.
Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81528-4.
Cocks, Elijah E.; Cocks, Josiah C. (1995). Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature. Tudor Publishers. ISBN 978-0-936389-27-1.
McDowell, Jonathan (July 15, 2007). "Lunar Nomenclature". Jonathan's Space Report. Archived from the original on 2012-02-08. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
Menzel, D. H.; Minnaert, M.; Levin, B.; Dollfus, A.; Bell, B. (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.
Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-304-35469-6.
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.
Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-62248-6.
Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer. ISBN 978-1-85233-193-1.

External links

Lunar Orbiter 1 image 192, showing the northeastern part of Flamsteed P, where Surveyor 1 landed

[GPN-1] 1 2 "Flamsteed". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.

[Pike_1976-2] 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.

[Wilhelms_et_al_1987-3] 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. doi:10.3133/pp1348. Table 12.2.

[Webb_1962-4] 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

[NASA_2021-5] "55 Years Ago: Surveyor 1 Makes A Soft Landing on the Moon". NASA, Johnson Space Center. June 2, 2021. Retrieved 2026-05-19.

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