Astronomy:Daguerre (crater)

Short description: Crater on the Moon

Daguerre

LRO image
Diameter	46 km
Colongitude	327° at sunrise

Oblique view facing south from Apollo 11

Daguerre is at the center of this image, but is barely visible due to its low relief and the high sun angle. A ray from Mädler to the west crosses Daguerre. The bright spot near center is the small crater pictured at left.

This image shows the striking bilateral symmetry of the rays of a small (2-km diameter) crater in the floor of Daguerre. Continuous areas and narrow filaments of light-gray ejecta extend from the crater across the dark mare surface through 270°, but are entirely absent in the southern 90° sector. Within the crater, dark material occurs on the southern crater wall while the remaining walls are bright. This crater probably resulted from the impact of a projectile traveling from south to north along an oblique trajectory. Its pattern of ejecta distribution is similar to that of small craters produced by the impact of missiles along oblique trajectories at the White Sands Missile Range, NM. Some observers postulate that the dark material is a talus deposit of mare material that has fallen into the crater. Another geological explanation is that the unusual pattern may be due to an intrinsic characteristic of the local terrain, probably an abrupt lateral change in the composition of the bedrock within the area that was excavated. (edited NASA caption.)

Daguerre is a circular formation near the north end of Mare Nectaris. To the west-northwest is the crater Mädler, and beyond it to the west is the prominent Theophilus. To the north in the rugged continental area between the maria is Isidorus.

This feature has the appearance of a lunar impact crater that has been nearly submerged by a lava flow, leaving a gap in the southwest wall that gives the feature the shape of a horse-shoe. The floor is overlaid by the linear ray from Mädler. The maximum altitude of the surviving rim is 1.5 km.

The crater was named after French artist and photographer Louis Daguerre in 1935.

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 Daguerre.

Daguerre	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
K	12.2° S	35.8° E	5 km
U	15.1° S	35.7° E	4 km
X	14.0° S	34.5° E	4 km
Y	13.9° S	35.4° E	3 km
Z	14.9° S	34.7° E	4 km

References

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