Astronomy:Faraday (crater)

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Short description: Lunar impact crater
Faraday
Faraday crater 4100 h2.jpg
Diameter70 km
Depth4.1 km
Colongitude352° at sunrise

Faraday is a lunar impact crater in the southern highlands of the Moon. It was named after British chemist and physicist Michael Faraday.[1] It lies across the southeast rim of the larger crater Stöfler, and the northwest rim of Faraday forms a wide rampart across the otherwise flat floor of Stöfler. To the east of Faraday is Maurolycus.

The rim of Faraday has been significantly overlain by subsequent impacts, most notably by an overlapping pair across the southwest rim and a crater across the northwest rim. There is a low central ridge running from the southwest to the northeast, nearly dividing the crater floor in half. The floor is nearly flat in the northwest half.

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 Faraday.

Faraday area
Faraday area in Selenochromatic image
Faraday Latitude Longitude Diameter
A 41.5° S 9.7° E 21 km
C 43.3° S 8.1° E 30 km
D 43.7° S 9.6° E 14 km
G 45.8° S 10.1° E 31 km
H 45.0° S 10.3° E 12 km

Due to its ray system, Faraday C is mapped as part of the Copernican System.[2]

References

  1. "Faraday (crater)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
  2. The geologic history of the Moon, 1987, Wilhelms, Don E.; with sections by McCauley, John F.; Trask, Newell J. USGS Professional Paper: 1348. Plate 11: Copernican System (online)