Astronomy:Kao (crater)

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Short description: Crater on the Moon
Kao
Kao crater Helmert crater AS17-M-2831.jpg
Apollo 17 mapping camera image, Kao at top and Helmert at bottom
Diameter34.54 km
Depth0.43 km[1]
Colongitude273° at sunrise
Oblique view from Apollo 17

Kao is a small lunar impact crater that is located near the eastern limb of the Moon. It lies near the southern edge of the Mare Smythii, a lunar mare that continues onto the far side of the surface. This crater lies to the east-southeast of the crater Widmannstätten. Less than a crater diameter to the north-northeast is the small crater Tucker.

This crater forms part of a merged pair with Helmert to the south. There is a gap in the sides of the crater where they are joined together, and they share a common floor that has been resurfaced by lava. The outer rim of this crater now forms little more than a shallow ring in the surface, with the rim lowest along the northern side. It is unmarked by impacts of significance. However, there is a small crater along the southeastern edge where the rim joins that of Helmert.

The crater's name was approved by the IAU in 1982.[2]

References

  1. LTO-81B3 Widmannstatten, Lunar Topographic Orthophotomap (LTO) Series
  2. Kao, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)