Kuiper (lunar crater)

This article is about the crater on the Moon. For other craters named Kuiper, see Kuiper (disambiguation).

Kuiper

Apollo 16 image
Coordinates	9.8°S 22.7°W / -9.8; -22.7
Diameter	7 km
Depth	1.3 km
Colongitude	23° at sunrise
Eponym	Gerard P. Kuiper

Kuiper (/ˈkaɪpər/ KY-pər) is a small lunar impact crater in a relatively featureless part of the Mare Cognitum. On the lunar geologic timescale, this formation dates to the Copernican period. It is a circular, cup-shaped feature with only some minor wear. The lava-flooded crater Bonpland lies to the east at the edge of the Mare Cognitum.

This crater was named after Dutch-American astronomer Gerard Kuiper in 1976. Kuiper was the Project Scientist for the Ranger program. It was previously identified as Bonpland E.

To the east-southeast of Kuiper crater is the crash landing site of the Ranger 7 probe, the first American spacecraft to make high resolution close-up photographs of the Moon.

References

Sources

• Schuffelen, Marco (2006). "Dutch requests". Retrieved 2007-06-01.
• 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.
• Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes (6th revised ed.). Dover. ISBN 978-0-486-20917-3. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
• 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

• Kuiper at The Moon Wiki
• LTO-6D2 Kuiper — L&PI topographic map
• Wood, Chuck (October 12, 2013). "Age Dating a Moon Photo". Lunar Photo of the Day.