Astronomy:Purkyně (crater)

Short description: Crater on the Moon

Purkyně

Apollo 15 Mapping Camera image
Diameter	48 km
Depth	Unknown
Colongitude	266° at sunrise

Oblique view from Apollo 17

Oblique view from Apollo 11

Purkyně is a lunar impact crater that lies just beyond the eastern limb of the Moon, on the far side from the Earth. When conditions of libration and sunlight allow, this crater can be viewed from the Earth, although it is seen from a very low angle and not much detail can be seen. This crater lies just to the west of the larger crater Wyld, and to the north-northwest of the even bigger Hirayama. To the west and northwest of Purkyně is the Mare Smythii.

This crater has a raised, circular rim that has become worn. The satellite crater Purkyně K intrudes into the southeastern rim. The crater is otherwise only marked by a number of tiny craterlets. The interior floor is relatively level and featureless, with only a pair of tiny craters along the eastern side.

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 Purkyně.

Purkyně	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
D	1.0° S	96.0° E	13 km
K	2.7° S	95.4° E	21 km
S	1.8° S	90.6° E	34 km
U	0.7° S	91.9° E	51 km
V	0.8° S	92.7° E	24 km

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  Purkyně D (Apollo 15 Panoramic Camera image)

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  Purkyně S (Lunar Orbiter 1 image)

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  Purkyně U (Lunar Orbiter 1 image)

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  Purkyně U (Apollo 17 Panoramic Camera image)

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  Purkyně V (Lunar Orbiter 1 image)

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.