Marius Crater ( lat. Marius ) - a large impact crater in the central part of the Ocean of Storms on the visible side of the Moon . The name was given in honor of the German astronomer Simon Maria (1570-1624) and approved by the International Astronomical Union in 1935. The formation of the crater dates back to the Early Imbrian period [1] .
| Marius | |
|---|---|
| lat Marius | |
 A picture from the side of Apollo 12 . In the background, the hills of Marius are clearly visible (see below). | |
| Specifications | |
| Diameter | 40.1 km |
| Deepest | 1,500 m |
| Title | |
| Eponym | Simon Marius (1570-1624) - German astronomer. |
| Location | |
| Heavenly body | Moon |
Crater Description
The immediate neighbors of the crater are the Reiner Crater in the southwest; Herodotus crater in the north; Kepler Crater in the east and Suess Crater in the south-southeast. In the southwest of the Marius Crater is a region with a high albedo - Reiner Gamma ; in the west, the groove of Galileo ; in the north lies a long winding furrow of Marius ; in the south-southeast - the Suss furrow [2] .
The selenographic coordinates of the center of the crater are , diameter 40.1 km [3] , depth 1500 m [4] .
Marius Crater is close to a circular shape and is practically not destroyed. The shaft with a massive external slope is somewhat flattened, but retained a fairly clear outline, in the northern and southern parts it has saddle depressions. The outer slope of the shaft in the southeast is dissected by a wide winding valley. The inner slope is narrow, with traces of a terrace-like structure. The height of the shaft above the bottom of the crater bowl reaches 1300 m [5] . The bottom of the bowl is flooded and leveled with basaltic lava and has a low albedo , has several small areas with a high albedo. A little to the center of the bowl is a small, nameless bowl-shaped crater; in the northeastern part of the bowl is the satellite crater Marius G. The area east of the crater Marius is marked by bright rays from the Kepler crater.
To the west and north of the crater, in a region with a diameter of over 100 km, there are a large number of supposedly shield volcanoes unofficially referred to as the Marius hills [6] .
The Japanese Kaguya probe discovered a hole in the lunar surface, located near the Marius crater, allegedly leading to a lava tube . The diameter of the hole is about 65 meters, and the depth of the lava tube is supposedly 90 meters.
Satellite Craters
| Marius | Coordinates | Diameter, km |
|---|---|---|
| A | 15,2 | |
| B | 11.1 | |
| C | 11.1 | |
| D | 8.7 | |
| E | 5,6 | |
| F | 5.5 | |
| G | 3.4 | |
| H | 4.7 | |
| J | 3.0 | |
| K | 3.6 | |
| L | 6.9 | |
| M | 6.4 | |
| N | 4.0 | |
| P | 3.9 | |
| Q | 4.9 | |
| R | 4.8 | |
| S | 6.3 | |
| U | 2,3 | |
| V | 1,6 | |
| W | 2,8 | |
| X | 4.8 | |
| Y | 2.5 |
- The formation of the satellite crater Marius A, C, and D belongs to the Eratosthenesian period [1] .
Spacecraft landing locations
- On October 7, 1965, approximately 50 km south-east of the Marius crater, at a point with selenographic coordinates of , the Soviet automatic interplanetary station Luna-7 made a hard landing.
- The Marius crater area was considered for the expedition under the Apollo program ( Apollon 15 ), but the Headley Apennines area was the final choice. Subsequently, the crater area was proposed as a backup target for the Apollo 20 expedition, but this flight was canceled.
Gallery
Landslides of rocks on the inner slope of the Marius Crater. Shot of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter probe. The width of the picture is 510 m.
Layers of marine basalt , partially covered by talus of rocks, on the inner slope of the satellite crater Marius A. Photo of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter probe. The picture shows the crater shaft on the right, the bottom of the bowl on the left. The width of the image is about 460 m.
The hills of Marius. Shot of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter probe.
See also
- List of Craters on the Moon
- Lunar crater
- Morphological catalog of Moon Craters
- Planetary nomenclature
- Selenography
- Mineralogy of the Moon
- Geology of the moon
- Late heavy bombardment
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Lunar Impact Crater Database . Losiak A., Kohout T., O'Sulllivan K., Thaisen K., Weider S. (Lunar and Planetary Institute, Lunar Exploration Intern Program, 2009); updated by Öhman T. in 2011. Archived page .
- ↑ Marius Crater on the LAC-56 map
- ↑ Handbook of the International Astronomical Union
- ↑ John E. Westfall's Atlas of the Lunar Terminator, Cambridge Univ. Press (2000)
- ↑ Crater description on The Moon-Wiki.
- ↑ Description on The Moon-Wiki.
Links
- Digital photographic atlas of the moon.
- Pictures of the crater from the side of Apollo 12, Apollo 17.
- Marius Crater on the LAC-56 map.
- Selenological map of the vicinity of the crater.
- The Sad State of Lunar Reference Material.
- Little Hills, Huge Hole.
- Description of the crater on The Moon-Wiki.
- Andersson, LE, and EA Whitaker, NASA Catalog of Lunar Nomenclature, NASA Reference Publication 1097, October 1982.