C. Herschel Crater Honors German-British Astronomer Caroline Herschel

Summary: C. Herschel Crater honors German-British astronomer Caroline Herschel, discoverer of eight comets and sister of Uranus discoverer William Herschel.

Black-and-white, 70 mm Hasselbad camera photo shows C. Herschel Crater’s (upper left) placement across Dorsum Heim’s (center) traversal of western Mare Imbrium; Apollo 17, lunar revolution 62, December 1972; NASA ID AS17-155-23712: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

C. Herschel Crater honors German-British astronomer Caroline Herschel, who discovered eight comets and who assisted her older brother, Uranus discoverer William Herschel, in his astronomical pursuits.

C. Herschel Crater is located on the western Mare Imbrium (Sea of Showers) in the lunar near side’s northern hemisphere. The vast lava plain occupies the lunar near side’s northwestern quadrant. Mare Imbrium is centered at 32.8 degrees north latitude, 15.6 degrees west longitude and is sized at 1,123 kilometers (697.79 miles), according to details for photo number IV-122-H1 (Plate 96) in the Lunar and Planetary Institute’s Digital Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon database.

The small lunar impact crater cuts across Dorsum Heim (Heim Wrinkle Ridge), a low sinuous ridge that makes a southeast-to-northwest trek to C. Herschel. Dorsum Heim is centered at 32.2 degrees north latitude and minus 29.83 degrees west longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Dorsum Heim’s length measures 146.79 kilometers.

C. Herschel Crater is centered at 34.48 degrees north latitude and minus 31.29 degrees west longitude. The impact crater registers northernmost and southernmost latitudes of 34.71 degrees north and 34.26 degrees north. It obtains easternmost and westernmost longitudes of minus 31 degrees west and minus 31.55 degrees west, respectively. C. Herschel’s diameter measures 13.7 kilometers.

C. Herschel Crater parents four satellites. All four favor westerly locations, with three to the northwest and one to the southwest, with respect to their parent.

C. Herschel E claims the southernmost and westernmost position of the four satellites. E is centered at 34.21 degrees north latitude and minus 34.69 degrees west longitude. The satellite’s northernmost and southernmost latitudes occur at 34.29 degrees north and 34.13 degrees north, respectively. It finds easternmost and westernmost longitudes at minus 34.58 degrees west and minus 34.79 degrees west, respectively. Satellite E has a diameter of 5.03 kilometers.

C. Herschel C assumes the northernmost position of the four satellites. C is centered at 37.23 degrees north latitude and minus 32.62 degrees west longitude. The satellite obtains northernmost and southernmost latitudes at 37.34 degrees north and 37.11 degrees north, respectively. It finds easternmost and westernmost longitudes at minus 32.47 degrees west and minus 32.76 degrees west, respectively. With a diameter of 7.04 kilometers, Satellite C is the largest of the four satellites.

C. Herschel V is located to the southwest of C. Herschel C. V is centered at 36.46 degrees south latitude and minus 33.49 degrees west longitude. V registers northernmost and southernmost latitudes at 36.52 degrees north and 36.4 degrees north, respectively. It marks easternmost and westernmost longitudes at minus 33.42 degrees west and minus 33.56 degrees west, respectively. V has a diameter of 3.46 kilometers.

C. Herschel U claims the closest location to its parent. Its northwest site distances U by only approximately two degrees from C. Herschel. U is centered at 36.2 degrees north latitude and minus 31.44 degrees west longitude. U obtains northernmost and southernmost latitudes at 36.26 degrees north and 36.15 degrees north, respectively. It registers easternmost and westernmost longitudes at minus 31.38 degrees west and minus minus 31.51 degrees west, respectively. With a diameter of 3.3 kilometers, U is the smallest of the four satellites.

The C. Herschel Crater system honors German-British astronomer Caroline Herschel (March 16, 1750-Jan. 9, 1848). The IAU approved the parent crater’s name in 1935, during the organization’s Vth (5th) General Assembly, held Wednesday, July 10, to Wednesday, July 17, in Paris, France. The four satellites received approval of their designations in 2006, during the IAU’s XXVIth (26th) General Assembly, held Monday, Aug. 14, to Friday, Aug. 25, in Prague, Czech Republic.

German-British astronomer and musician William Herschel (Nov. 15, 1738-Aug. 25, 1822) shared his first career as a musician and his second career as an astronomer with his sister Caroline. She assisted her brother in his astronomical pursuits and also gained recognition for her own astronomical accomplishments. Caroline Herschel is credited with discovering eight comets and 14 nebulae.

The takeaways for C. Herschel Crater, which honors German-British astronomer Caroline Herschel, are that the small impact crater lies on the western Mare Imbrium in the lunar near side’s southwest quadrant and parents four satellites and that the crater system’s smallest and largest satellites, C. Herschel U and C. Herschel C, with respective diameters of 3.3 and 7.04 kilometers, are roughly one-quarter and one-half the size of their parent.

Detail shows Dorsum Heim (lower right) and C. Herschel Crater system of one parent and four satellites on lunar near side’s western Mare Imbrium; LAC (Lunar Aeronautical Chart) 24: NASA / GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center) / ASU (Arizona State University), Public Domain, via U.S. Geological Survey / Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Black-and-white, 70 mm Hasselbad camera photo shows C. Herschel Crater’s (upper left) placement across Dorsum Heim’s (center) traversal of western Mare Imbrium; Apollo 17, lunar revolution 62, December 1972; NASA ID AS17-155-23712: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AS17-155-23712_-_Dorsum_Heim.jpg; No known copyright restrictions, via NARA (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration) & DVIDS (Defense Visual Information Distribution Service) Public Domain Archive @ https://nara.getarchive.net/media/as17-155-23712-apollo-17-apollo-17-south-west-of-patheas-beta-e83b94

Detail shows Dorsum Heim (lower right) and C. Herschel Crater system of one parent and four satellites on lunar near side’s western Mare Imbrium; LAC (Lunar Aeronautical Chart) 24: NASA / GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center) / ASU (Arizona State University), Public Domain, via U.S. Geological Survey / Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/images/Lunar/lac_24_wac.pdf

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