Letronne
Letronne from Apollo 16. NASA photo.
Coordinates10°36′S 42°24′W / 10.6°S 42.4°W / -10.6; -42.4
Diameter120 km
Depth1.0 km
Colongitude42° at sunrise
EponymJean-Antoine Letronne
Lunar Orbiter 4 image of Letronne. Note higher sun angle than the Apollo 16 image above.
Another view of eastern Letronne, from Apollo 16

Letronne is the lava-flooded remnant of a lunar impact crater. It was named after French archaeologist Jean-Antoine Letronne.[1] The northern part of the rim is completely missing, and opens into the Oceanus Procellarum, forming a bay along the southwestern shore. The formation is located to the northwest of the large crater Gassendi.To the west-southwest is the flooded crater Billy, and north-northwest lies the smaller Flamsteed.

The surviving rim of Letronne is now little more than a semi-circular series of ridges. The flooded, broken rim of Winthrop overlies the western wall. The rim is the most intact along the eastern stretch, forming a mountainous promontory into the mare. A small cluster of central rises lie at the midpoint of the crater. The wrinkle ridge Dorsa Rubey traverses the floor from north to south,[2] and outlines a portion of the missing rim. The crater floor is otherwise nearly smooth and relatively free of craterlets, with the exception of Letronne B near the southeast rim.

Letronne is one of the largest craters of Lower (Early) Imbrian age.[3]

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 Letronne.

Letronne Latitude Longitude Diameter
A 12.1° S 39.1° W 7 km
B 11.2° S 41.2° W 5 km
C 10.7° S 38.5° W 4 km
F 9.2° S 46.1° W 8 km
G 12.7° S 46.5° W 10 km
H 12.6° S 46.0° W 4 km
K 14.5° S 43.6° W 5 km
L 14.3° S 44.3° W 5 km
M 12.0° S 44.1° W 3 km
N 12.3° S 39.8° W 4 km
T 12.5° S 42.6° W 3 km

The following craters have been renamed by the IAU.

References

  1. "Letronne (crater)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
  2. Map quadrangle LAC-75, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program
  3. The geologic history of the Moon. USGS Professional Paper 1348. By Don E. Wilhelms, John F. McCauley, and Newell J. Trask. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington: 1987. Table 10.2.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.