Lunar Crater Floor

The formation of new craters is studied in the lunar impact monitoring program at nasa.

Lunar crater floor.

It has been noted that all craters on the moon seem to have about the same depth irrespective of the size. This is a list of named lunar craters the large majority of these features are impact craters the crater nomenclature is governed by the international astronomical union and this listing only includes features that are officially recognized by that scientific society. The week of july 29 august 4 takes us from day 27 to day 4. Ne j14 located on the north shore of fertility taruntius is a wonderful example of a floor fractured crater ffc.

This week we will highlight the crater taruntius viewable on sunday evening. The spectacular fractures that cut across the floor of komarov which is about 53 miles 85 kilometers in diameter were formed when magma rose from the mantle uplifting and fracturing the crater in the process. Evidence collected during the apollo project and from unmanned spacecraft of the same period proved conclusively that meteoric impact or impact by asteroids for larger craters was the origin of almost all lunar craters and by implication most craters on other bodies as well. Seven morphologic classes have been defined according to floor depth and the appearance of the floor wall and rim zones.

Planetary scientists usually define the depth of an impact crater as the distance from the crater rim to the crater floor. An example of a typical smooth crater floor at the cm dm scale considered in our study is shown in fig. Nasa s lunar reconnaissance orbiter captured this detailed look at the floor of komarov crater on the far side of the moon. Floor fractured moon crater.

Even large craters are common with over 230 craters with diameters of 100 km being visible from earth. There is actually some reason to consider this idea. Numerous lunar craters 206 examples mean diameter 40km contain pronounced floor rilles fractures and evidence for volcanic processes. Such craters containing central peaks exhibit peak heights approximately 1km comparable to those within well preserved impact.

Well preserved large craters like tycho about 53 miles 85 kilometers. The polygonal pattern may be indicative of a substructure beneath the crater floor. Take a close look at it. Its extreme southerly latitude means that at any time shadows cover most of the crater s floor and significant parts of the floor are in permanent shadow.

Craters are by far the most common lunar feature with over 300 000 craters of diameters 1 km on the near side.