Astronomy:Dawes (lunar crater)

Short description: Lunar impact crater

For the crater on Mars, see Dawes (Martian crater).

Dawes

Dawes from Apollo 17. NASA photo.
Diameter	18 km
Depth	2.3 km
Colongitude	334° at sunrise

Dawes is a lunar impact crater located in the wide straight between Mare Serenitatis and Mare Tranquilitatis. To its southwest lies the larger crater Plinius, and to its northeast sits the Mons Argaeus mountain rise. It is named after British astronomer William Rutter Dawes.

Oblique view facing south from Apollo 17

Layers of mare basalt affected the paths of granular material that flowed down the crater wall. The top of the image is down-slope. From LRO.

Description

Dawes is circular with a sharp rim that has a slightly flattened oval perimeter. It has a slight central rise, and a somewhat darker floor that is nearly covered in overlapping swirl-like deposits. Much of the deposits are slumped or fall-back material. The inner walls are steep and free from impact erosion. Northeast of Dawes is a rille known as Rima Dawes.

Detailed examination of this crater has located what appear to be alcoves and channels along the inner rim. It is hypothesized that micrometeorite impacts along the rim trigger dry landslides, which produce a gully-like appearance. A similar phenomenon may be responsible for gully-like features along the inner rim of some Martian craters.

References

• Andersson, L. E.; Whitaker, E. A. (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097. 
• Blue, Jennifer (July 25, 2007). "Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature". USGS. http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/. 
• 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. https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780936389271. 
• McDowell, Jonathan (July 15, 2007). "Lunar Nomenclature". Jonathan's Space Report. http://host.planet4589.org/astro/lunar/. 
• 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. doi:10.1007/BF00171763. Bibcode: 1971SSRv...12..136M. 
• Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co.. ISBN 978-0-304-35469-6. https://archive.org/details/patrickmooreonmo00patr. 
• 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. https://archive.org/details/celestialobjects00webb. 
• 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

• High resolution view from Apollo 15 (Figure 144 of Apollo Over the Moon: A View from Orbit (online version) (NASA SP-362), 1978)
• Lunar Orbiter 5 image 070, L&PI
• LTO-42C3 Dawes — L&PI topographic map
• LROC page: Dawes

Related article

• Wood, Chuck (August 4, 2012). "Rim Ash?". Lunar Photo of the Day. http://lpod.wikispaces.com/August+4%2C+2012.