Astronomy:Petit (crater)

From HandWiki
Short description: Crater on the Moon
Petit
Petit crater AS15-M-1626.jpg
Apollo 15 image
Diameter5.04 km
Depth1 km
Colongitude297° at sunrise


Petit is a small, bowl-shaped lunar impact crater that is located on the northwestern edge of the Mare Spumans. The crater has a prominent ray system. The name is appropriate, since petite means small in French. But it was actually named in honor of Alexis Thérèse Petit, a French physicist.

The crater lies to the south of the crater Townley, and east of Condon. Farther to the northwest is Apollonius. Petit was previously designated Apollonius W before being given a name by the IAU in 1976.[1]

External links

References

  1. Petit, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)