Spörer (crater)

Crater on the Moon
Feature on the moon
4°18′S 1°48′E / 4.3°S 1.8°E / -4.3; 1.8Diameter26 kmDepth0.3 kmColongitude2° at sunriseEponymGustav Spörer

Spörer is a lunar impact crater that lies just to the north of the crater Herschel, and southeast of the lava-flooded Flammarion. To the southeast is Gyldén, and to the northeast is Réaumur.

Its diameter is 26 km. The crater is named after German astronomer Gustav Spörer.[1]

The floor of this crater has been flooded with basaltic lava, leaving only a shallow rim above the surface. The narrow rim is roughly circular but irregular and broken in several locations. The rim has a slight outward bulge to the northwest. The interior of the crater is level and featureless.

Oblique view from Apollo 16

Satellite craters

Sporer crater and its satellite craters taken from Earth in 2012 at the University of Hertfordshire's Bayfordbury Observatory with the telescopes Meade LX200 14" and Lumenera Skynyx 2-1

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Spörer.

Spörer Latitude Longitude Diameter
A 3.4° S 2.1° W 5 km

References

  1. ^ "Spörer". Gazeteer of Planetary Nomenclature. International Astronomical Union. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  • Andersson, L. E.; Whitaker, E. A. (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097.
  • 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.
  • Rükl, Antonín (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.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sporer (crater).
  • Spörer at the Moon Wiki
  • Lunar Orbiter 1 images 145 and 146 showing most of Spörer