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Cassini (lunar crater)

Crater on the Moon

Cassini (lunar crater)

Crater on the Moon

FieldValue
imageCassini (LRO).png
captionLRO image
coordinates
diameter56.88 km
depth1.2 km
colong356
eponymGiovanni Cassini and Jacques Cassini
Cassini Crater (to the right) in a Selenochromatic Image (Si)

Cassini is a lunar impact crater that is located in the Palus Nebularum, at the eastern end of Mare Imbrium. The crater was named after astronomers Giovanni Cassini and Jacques Cassini. To the northeast is the Promontorium Agassiz, the southern tip of the Montes Alpes mountain range. South by south-east of Cassini is the crater Theaetetus. To the northwest is the lone peak Mons Piton.

Description

The floor of Cassini is flooded, and is likely as old as the surrounding mare. The surface is peppered with a multitude of impacts, including a pair of significant craters contained entirely within the rim. Cassini A is the larger of these two, and it lies just north-east of the crater center. A hilly ridge area runs from this inner crater toward the south-east. Near the south-west rim of Cassini is the smaller crater Cassini B.

The walls of this crater are narrow and irregular in form but remain intact despite the lava flooding. Beyond the crater rim is a significant and irregular outer rampart.

Cassini is a crater of Lower (Early) Imbrian age.

For unknown reasons, this crater was omitted from early maps of the Moon. This crater is not of recent origin, however, so the omission was most likely an error on the part of the map-makers.

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 Cassini.

CassiniLatitudeLongitudeDiameter
A40.5° N4.8° E15 km
B39.9° N3.9° E9 km
C41.7° N7.8° E14 km
E42.9° N7.3° E10 km
F40.9° N7.3° E7 km
G44.7° N5.5° E5 km
K45.2° N4.1° E4 km
L44.0° N4.5° E6 km
M41.3° N3.7° E8 km
P44.7° N1.9° E4 km
W42.3° N4.3° E6 km
X43.9° N7.9° E4 km
Y41.9° N2.2° E3 km
Z43.4° N2.3° E4 km

References

  • {{cite book | author-link2 = Ewen Whitaker
  • {{cite book | author-link1 = Ben Bussey | author-link2 = Paul Spudis
  • {{cite book
  • {{cite web | access-date = 2007-10-24 | archive-date = 2012-02-08 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120208141804/http://host.planet4589.org/astro/lunar/ | url-status = dead
  • {{cite book | author-link = Patrick Moore
  • {{cite book
  • {{cite book | author-link = Antonín Rükl
  • {{cite book | author-link = Thomas William Webb
  • {{cite book | author-link = Ewen Whitaker
  • {{cite book

References

  1. {{gpn. 1045
  2. [https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp1348 The geologic history of the Moon]. [[USGS]] Professional Paper 1348. By [[Don Wilhelms. Don E. Wilhelms]], John F. McCauley, and Newell J. Trask. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington: 1987. Table 10.2.
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