Picard (crater)
 Apollo 17 Mapping camera image | |
| Coordinates | 14°34′N 54°43′E / 14.57°N 54.72°E |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 22.35 km (13.89 mi) |
| Depth | 2.4 km[1] |
| Colongitude | 306° at sunrise |
| Formation | Eratosthenian[2] |
| Eponym | Jean-Félix Picard |
Picard is a lunar impact crater that lies in Mare Crisium. The crater is named for 17th century French astronomer and geodesist Jean Picard.[3] It is the biggest non-flooded crater of this mare,[4] being slightly larger than Peirce to the north-northwest. To the west is the almost completely flooded crater Yerkes. To east of Picard is the tiny Curtis.
Picard is a crater from the Eratosthenian period, which lasted from 3.2 to 1.1 billion years ago.[2] The roughly circular rim of Picard is well-defined and shows little sign of wear, having a sharp-edged appearance. On the inner wall are a series of layered terraces that seismologists have attributed to a collapse of the crater floor. It has a cluster of low hills at the bottom.[5]
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 Picard.[6]
| Picard | Coordinates | Diameter |
|---|---|---|
| K | 9°44′N 54°34′E / 9.73°N 54.56°E | 9 km |
| L | 10°19′N 54°19′E / 10.32°N 54.31°E | 7 km |
| M | 10°13′N 53°57′E / 10.21°N 53.95°E | 8 km |
| N | 10°31′N 53°34′E / 10.52°N 53.57°E | 19 km |
| P | 8°49′N 53°37′E / 8.82°N 53.62°E | 8 km |
| Y | 13°11′N 60°16′E / 13.18°N 60.27°E | 4 km |
The following craters have been renamed by the IAU.[7]
- Picard G — see Tebbutt.
- Picard H — see Shapley.
- Picard X — see Fahrenheit.
- Picard Z — see Curtis.
Gallery
Oblique Lunar Orbiter 4 image
Oblique Apollo 15 Panoramic Camera image, facing south
References
- ↑ LTO-62A1 Yerkes — L&PI topographic map
- 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. p. 253. doi:10.3133/pp1348.
- ↑ "Picard (crater)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
- ↑ Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes (6th revised ed.). Dover. pp. 105, 154–159. Reprint: ISBN 978-0-486-20917-3
- ↑ Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co.. ISBN 0-304-35469-4.
- ↑ Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-81528-2.
- ↑ Moore, Patrick; Rees, Robin (2014). Patrick Moore's Data Book of Astronomy (2 ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 50–79. ISBN 978-1-139-49522-6.
External links
- Map of the region
- Part of Picard crater: photo by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter with resolution 1,3 meters/pixel Archived 2014-12-13 at the Wayback Machine
- "Picard Crater Impact Melt". lroc.sese.asu.edu. 2012-12-11. Archived from the original on 2014-12-12. Retrieved 2014-12-12.
- "The Crater Picard: Strange Convergences". vgl.org. 1996-04-04. Archived from the original on 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2014-12-12.
- Picard in The-Moon Wiki
