From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Circular depression on the near side of Earth's Moon
Feature on the moon
Kepler
is a
lunar
impact crater
that lies between the
Oceanus Procellarum
to the west and
Mare Insularum
in the east. To the southeast is the crater
Encke
. Kepler is named for the 17th century German astronomer and mathematician
Johannes Kepler
.
[1]
Description
[
edit
]
Kepler is most notable for the prominent
ray system
that covers the surrounding
mare
. The rays extend for well over 300 kilometers, overlapping the rays from other craters. Kepler has a small
rampart
of ejecta surrounding the exterior of its high rim. The outer wall is not quite circular, and possesses a slightly
polygonal
form. The interior walls of Kepler are slumped and slightly
terraced
, descending to an uneven floor and a minor central rise.
One of the rays from
Tycho
, when extended across the
Oceanus Procellarum
, intersects this crater. This was a factor in the choice of the crater's name when
Giovanni Riccioli
was creating his system of
lunar nomenclature
, as Kepler used the observations of
Tycho Brahe
while devising his three laws of planetary motion. On Riccioli's maps, this crater was named
Keplerus
, and the surrounding skirt of higher
albedo
terrain was named
Insulara Ventorum
.
Due to its prominent rays, Kepler is mapped as part of the
Copernican System
.
[2]
Satellite craters
[
edit
]
By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Kepler.
Latitude
|
Kepler
|
Longitude
|
Diameter
|
7.2° N
|
A
|
36.1° W
|
11 km
|
7.8° N
|
B
|
35.3° W
|
7 km
|
10.0° N
|
C
|
41.8° W
|
11 km
|
7.4° N
|
D
|
41.9° W
|
10 km
|
7.4° N
|
E
|
43.9° W
|
6 km
|
8.3° N
|
F
|
39.0° W
|
7 km
|
12.2° N
|
P
|
34.0° W
|
4 km
|
9.0° N
|
T
|
34.6° W
|
3 km
|
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Kepler (lunar crater)"
.
Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature
. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
- ^
The geologic history of the Moon, 1987,
Wilhelms, Don E.
; with sections by McCauley, John F.; Trask, Newell J.
USGS
Professional Paper: 1348. Plate 11: Copernican System (
online
)
- 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
. Retrieved
2007-08-05
.
- 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
.
- McDowell, Jonathan (July 15, 2007).
"Lunar Nomenclature"
.
Jonathan's Space Report
. Retrieved
2007-10-24
.
- 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.
Bibcode
:
1971SSRv...12..136M
.
doi
:
10.1007/BF00171763
.
S2CID
122125855
.
- Moore, Patrick
(2001).
On the Moon
.
Sterling Publishing Co.
ISBN
978-0-304-35469-6
.
- Price, Fred W. (1988).
The Moon Observer's Handbook
. Cambridge University Press.
ISBN
978-0-521-33500-3
.
- Rukl, Antonin
(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
.
- 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
.
External links
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