View source for Astronomy:Tsiolkovskiy (crater)

{{short description|Lunar impact crater}}
{{Infobox Lunar crater
| image       = Tsiolkovskiy crater aerial.jpg
| caption     = Tsiolkovskiy on the Moon's far side from [[Engineering:Apollo 15|Apollo 15]] showing the central peak. ''[[Organization:NASA|NASA]]&nbsp;photo.''
| coordinates = {{coord|20.38|S|128.97|E|globe:moon_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| diameter    = {{cvt|184.39|km}}
| depth       = {{cvt|5.2|km}}<ref>[http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog/LTO/lto101b2_2/ LTO-101B2 Tsiolkovskij Borealis]</ref><ref> [http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog/LTO/lto101b3_1/ LTO-101B3 Tsiolkovskij Australis]</ref>
| colong      = 235
| eponym      = [[Biography:Konstantin Tsiolkovsky|Konstantin Tsiolkovsky]]
}}
'''Tsiolkovskiy''' is a large [[Astronomy:Lunar craters|lunar]] [[Astronomy:Impact crater|impact crater]] that is located on the far side of the [[Astronomy:Moon|Moon]].  Named for Russian scientist [[Biography:Konstantin Tsiolkovsky|Konstantin Tsiolkovsky]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/201000430_tsiol.html|title = NASA - Floor of Tsiolkovskiy - Exploration Region of Interest}}</ref> it lies in the southern hemisphere, to the west of the large crater [[Astronomy:Gagarin (crater)|Gagarin]], and northwest of [[Astronomy:Milne (crater)|Milne]]. Just to the south is [[Astronomy:Waterman (crater)|Waterman]], with [[Astronomy:Neujmin (crater)|Neujmin]] to the south-southwest.  The crater protrudes into the neighbouring [[Astronomy:Fermi (crater)|Fermi]], an older crater of comparable size that does not have a [[Earth:Lava|lava]]-flooded floor.

Tsiolkovskiy is one of the largest craters of Upper (Late) [[Earth:Imbrian|Imbrian]] age.<ref>[https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp1348 The geologic history of the Moon].  USGS Professional Paper 1348. By [[Biography:Don Wilhelms|Don E. Wilhelms]], John F. McCauley, and Newell J. Trask.  U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington: 1987.  Table 11.2.</ref>

==Characteristics==
Tsiolkovskiy is one of the most prominent features on the far side of the Moon. It possesses high, terraced inner walls and a well-formed central peak, which rises over 3200 m above the floor of the crater. The floor is unusual for a crater on the far side, as it is covered by the dark-hued [[Astronomy:Lunar mare|mare]] that is characteristic of the maria found on the near side. The distribution of the mare material is not symmetrical across the floor, but is instead more heavily concentrated to the east and south. There is also a protruding bay of darker material that reaches the wall to the west-northwest. The remainder of the floor has the same [[Earth:Albedo|albedo]] as the terrain surrounding the crater.

A row of small craters in [[Astronomy:Mendeleev (crater)|Mendeleev]] crater far to the northeast are called Catena Mendeleev, and the row points directly at Tsiolkovsky.  For this reason the craters are believed to be [[Astronomy:Secondary crater|secondaries]] from the Tsiolkovsky impact.<ref>The geologic history of the Moon, 1987, [[Biography:Donald Wilhelms|Wilhelms, Don E.]]; with sections by McCauley, John F.; Trask, Newell J. USGS Professional Paper: 1348.  Figure 9.26 B ([https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp1348 online])</ref>

This feature was discovered on photographs sent back by the Russian spacecraft [[Engineering:Luna 3|Luna 3]], and was subsequently imaged by several of the American [[Astronomy:Lunar Orbiter program|Lunar Orbiters]] and then by [[Astronomy:Apollo program|Apollo]] astronauts.

[[Engineering:Apollo 17|Apollo 17]] Astronaut Harrison "Jack" Schmitt and other scientists (Schmitt was the only trained scientist, a [[Geologist|geologist]], to walk on the Moon) strongly advocated Tsiolkovskiy as the landing site of  Apollo 17, using small communications satellites deployed from the Command/Service Module for communication from the far side of the Moon. [[Organization:NASA|NASA]] vetoed the idea as too risky, and Apollo 17 instead landed in the Taurus–Littrow valley on December 11, 1972.

==Views==
<gallery heights="140px" mode="packed">
File:Tsiolkovskiy crater 1136 med.jpg|[[Astronomy:Lunar Orbiter 1|Lunar Orbiter 1]] image
File:Crater Tsiolkovsky - GPN-2000-001128.jpg|[[Engineering:Apollo 8|Apollo 8]] image
File:Tsiolkovskiy peak AS15-M-0481.jpg|[[Engineering:Apollo 15|Apollo 15]] mapping camera image of the central peak
File:Tsiolkovskiy crater Apollo 15.jpg|Another oblique view from Apollo 15
File:AS17-M-1581.jpg|Oblique view from [[Engineering:Apollo 17|Apollo 17]], facing south
File:Tsiolkovskiy crater Apollo 17 mosaic.jpg|Mosaic of Apollo 17 mapping camera images, while Tsiolkovskiy was at the terminator
</gallery>

==Satellite craters==
200px|thumb|right|Map
By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Tsiolkovskiy.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! Tsiolkovskiy
! class="unsortable" | Coordinates
! Diameter, km
|-
|W
|{{Coord|16.04|S|126.87|E|globe:moon|name=Tsiolkovskiy W}}
|12.1
|-
|X
|{{Coord|14.72|S|126.47|E|globe:moon|name=Tsiolkovskiy X}}
|12.1
|}

== See also ==
* [[Astronomy:1590 Tsiolkovskaja|1590 Tsiolkovskaja]], asteroid

==References==

{{Reflist}}
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book
  | last1 = Andersson
  | first1 = L. E.
  | last2 = Whitaker
  | first2 = E. A.
  | date = 1982
  | title = [[Organization:NASA|NASA]] Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature
  | publisher = NASA RP-1097
  }}
* {{cite web
  | last = Blue
  | first = Jennifer
  | date = July 25, 2007
  | title = Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature
  | publisher = USGS
  | url = https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/13538
  | access-date = 2020-05-26
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last1 = Bussey
  | first1 = B.
  | last2 = Spudis
  | first2 = P.
  | date = 2004
  | title = The Clementine Atlas of the Moon
  | publisher = {{wipe|Cambridge University Press}}
  | location = New York
  | isbn = 978-0-521-81528-4
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last1 = Cocks
  | first1 = Elijah E.
  | last2 = Cocks
  | first2 = Josiah C.
  | date = 1995
  | title = Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature
  | publisher = Tudor Publishers
  | isbn = 978-0-936389-27-1
  | url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780936389271
  }}
* {{cite web
  | last = McDowell
  | first = Jonathan
  | date = July 15, 2007
  | url = http://host.planet4589.org/astro/lunar/
  | title = Lunar Nomenclature
  | publisher = [[Engineering:Jonathan's Space Report|Jonathan's Space Report]]
  | access-date = 2007-10-24
  }}
* {{cite journal| last1 = Menzel| first1 = D. H.| last2 = Minnaert| first2 = M.| last3 = Levin| first3 = B.| last4 = Dollfus| first4 = A.| last5 = Bell| first5 = B.| title = Report on Lunar Nomenclature by the Working Group of Commission 17 of the IAU| doi = 10.1007/BF00171763| journal = Space Science Reviews| volume = 12| issue = 2| pages = 136–186| year = 1971| bibcode = 1971SSRv...12..136M| s2cid = 122125855}}
* {{cite book
  | first = Patrick
  | last = Moore
  | date = 2001
  | title = On the Moon
  | publisher = Sterling Publishing Co
  | isbn = 978-0-304-35469-6
  | url = https://archive.org/details/patrickmooreonmo00patr
  }}
* {{cite book
  | first = Fred W.
  | last = Price
  | date = 1988
  | title = The Moon Observer's Handbook
  | publisher = Cambridge University Press
  | isbn = 978-0-521-33500-3
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Rükl
  | first = Antonín
  | date = 1990
  | title = Atlas of the Moon
  | publisher = Kalmbach Books
  | isbn = 978-0-913135-17-4
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Webb
  | first = Rev. T. W.
  | date = 1962
  | title = Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes
  | edition = 6th revised
  | publisher = Dover
  | isbn = 978-0-486-20917-3
  | url = https://archive.org/details/celestialobjects00webb
  }}
* {{cite book
  | first = Ewen A.
  | last = Whitaker
  | date = 1999
  | title = Mapping and Naming the Moon
  | publisher = Cambridge University Press
  | isbn = 978-0-521-62248-6
  }}
* {{cite book
  | first = Peter T.
  | last = Wlasuk
  | date = 2000
  | title = Observing the Moon
  | publisher = Springer
  | isbn = 978-1-85233-193-1
 }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* The following L&PI [[Earth:Topographic map|topographic map]]s show portions of the Tsiolkovskiy crater:
:{|
| Northern half
| &mdash; [http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog/LTO/lto101b2_2/ LTO-101B2 Tsiolkovskij Borealis]
|-
| Southern half
| &mdash; [http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog/LTO/lto101b3_1/ LTO-101B3 Tsiolkovskij Australis]
|-
| Northeast
| &mdash; [http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog/LTO/lto102a1_3/ LTO-102A1 Patsaev]
|-
| Southeast
| &mdash; [http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog/LTO/lto102a4_1/ LTO-102A4 Fesnekov]
|}
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/seandoran/27411547967/ High resolution lunar overflight video] by Seán Doran, based on LRO data, that passes near Tsiolkovskiy about two thirds of the way through (see [https://www.flickr.com/photos/136797589@N04/albums/72157686992929766/with/35498090194/ album] for more); a longer version is on [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swGQg7Z1lhQ YouTube]
* The crater is also seen shortly after the 1:00 minute mark in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ilifg26TZrI this NASA video] commemorating Apollo 13


[[Category:Impact craters on the Moon]]

{{Sourceattribution|Tsiolkovskiy (crater)}}