Huygens A Is Only Lettered Crater Associated With Lunar Mons Huygens

Summary: Huygens A is the only lettered crater associated with lunar Mons Huygens, which borders Mare Imbrium in the lunar near side’s northwest quadrant.

Detail shows Huygens A (center right) to the east of Mons Huygens and to the northeast of Mons Ampère in the stretch of Montes Apenninus along the southeastern border of Mare Imbrium (Sea of Showers) in lunar near side’s northwestern quadrant; LAC (Lunar Aeonautical Chart) 41: NASA / GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center) / ASU (Arizona State University), Public Domain, via U.S. Geological Survey / Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

Huygens A is the only lettered crater associated with lunar Mons Huygens, which borders southeastern Mare Imbrium (Sea of Showers) as the tallest mountain mass in the lunar near side’s rugged Montes Apenninus (Apennine Mountains).

Huygens A lies to the east of Mons Huygens (Mount Huygens) in the lunar near side’s northwest quadrant. The satellite feature is centered at 19.77 degrees north latitude, minus 1.92 west longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Huygens A marks its northernmost and southernmost latitudes at 19.87 degrees north and 19.67 degrees north, respectively. It obtains easternmost and westernmost longitudes at minus 1.82 degrees west and minus 2.02 degrees west, respectively. Huygens A has a diameter of 5.88 kilometers.

Mons Ampère (Mount Ampère) resides in the same mountain range, Montes Apenninus, as Mons Huygens. Mons Ampère lies to the southwest of Huygens A and to the west-southwest of Mons Huygens. Mons Ampère’s placement qualifies it as the second nearest named mountain in the lunar Apennine range, after Mons Huygens, to Huygens A.

Mons Ampère is centered at 19.32 degrees north latitude, minus 3.71 degrees west longitude. It registers northernmost and southernmost latitudes at 19.82 degrees north and 18.93 degrees north, respectively. The mountain records easternmost and westernmost longitudes at minus 3.3 degrees west and minus 4.06 degrees west, respectively. Mons Ampère measures a length of 29.96 kilometers.

Huygens A receives its name from Mons Huygens as its parent feature. Mons Huygens memorializes Golden Age Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens (April 14, 1629-July 8, 1695). The 17th-century polymath pioneered probability theory with his publication of the field’s first treatise, De Ratiociniis in Ludo Aleae (On Reasoning in Games of Chance), in 1657. In 1673, Huygens published his major study of horology (science or study of time measurement) and pendulums, Horologium Oscillatorium: Sive de Motu Pendulorum ad Horologia Aptato Demonstrationes (The Pendulum Clock: Or Geometrical Demonstrations Concerning the Motion of Pendula as Applied to Clocks.

Huygens’ astronomical contributions include his March 25, 1655, discovery of Saturni Luna (Saturn’s moon), now known as Titan, as the first known Saturnian moon. On Oct. 15, 1997, approximately 342  and one-half years (342 years six months 20 days) after Huygens’ Saturnian satellite discovery, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft launched on a space-research mission to study the Saturnian system. The spacecraft’s Huygens atmospheric entry probe was named for Christiaan Huygens. The Huygens probe detached from the Cassini orbiter on Dec. 25, 2004, and landed on Titan on Jan. 14, 2005, as the first touchdown on a moon other than Earth’s moon and as the only landing in the outer solar system.

Mons Ampère’s name honors André-Marie Ampère (Jan. 20, 1775-June 10, 1836). The French autodidact (Ancient Greek: αὐτοδίδακτος, autodídaktos, from αὐτός, autós, “self” + διδάσκω, didáskō, “I teach”) accessed his prosperous father’s extensive library for education in his polymathic interests.

At the first International Exposition of Electricity, held in Paris, France, from Aug. 15, to Nov. 15, 1881, recognized Ampère’s contributions to electromagnetism and his pioneer research in electrodynamics. There, the first International Congress of Electricians established the ampere (symbol: A) as the base unit of electrical measurement for electric current in the International System of Units (SI).

The International Astronomical Union approved Huygens A in 2006 as the name of the only lettered crater associated with Mons Huygens. The name was adopted in during the IAU’s XXVIth (26th) General Assembly, held Monday, Aug. 14, to Friday, Aug. 25, in Prague, Czech Republic.

Mons Ampère received official name approval in 1935. The mountain’s name was adopted during the organization’s Vth (5th) General Assembly, which was held in Paris, France, from Wednesday, July 10, to Wednesday, July 17.

The takeaways for Huygens A as the only lettered crater associated with lunar Mons Huygens are that the satellite feature lies east of Mons Huygens and northeast of Mons Ampere; that the Huygens system occupies the lunar near side’s northwest quadrant; that Mons Ampère, to the southwest, qualifies as the second nearest named mountain in the lunar Apennine range, after Mons Ampère, to Huygens A; and that Huygens A’s small diameter measures 5.88 kilometers.

Lunar Orbiter 4 photograph, taken in 1967, shows Huygens A (lower center; E 14.75-15), Mons Huygens (F 14) and Mons Ampère (F 15) on southeastern Mare Imbrium (lower left); large crater (upper left) is Archimedes; D. Bowker and K. Hughes, Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon (1971); 1967 Lunar Orbiter IV photograph IV-I09-H3 Plate 200: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Public Domain, via NASA NTRS (NASA Technical Reports Server)

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Detail shows Huygens A (center right) to the east of Mons Huygens and to the northeast of Mons Ampère in the stretch of Montes Apenninus along the southeastern border of Mare Imbrium (Sea of Showers) in lunar near side’s northwestern quadrant; LAC (Lunar Aeonautical Chart) 41: 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_41_wac.pdf

Lunar Orbiter 4 photograph, taken in 1967, shows Huygens A (lower center; E 14.75-15), Mons Huygens (F 14) and Mons Ampère (F 15) on southeastern Mare Imbrium (lower left); large crater (upper left) is Archimedes; D. Bowker and K. Hughes, Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon (1971); 1967 Lunar Orbiter IV photograph IV-I09-H3 Plate 200: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Public Domain, via NASA NTRS (NASA Technical Reports Server) @ https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19730005152.pdf

For further information:

Bowker, David E.; J. Kenrick Hughes; Lunar and Planetary Institute. “Digital Lunar Orbiter Atlas of the Moon.” USRA LPI (Universities Space Research Association’s Lunar and Planetary Institute) > Resources.
Available via Universities Space Research Association’s (USRA) Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) @ https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/lunar_orbiter/book/lopam.pdf

Bowker, David E.; and J. Kenrick Hughes. “Photo No. IV-139-H1 Plate 84.” Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon. Prepared by Langley Research Center. NASA SP-206. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical Information Office, Jan. 1, 1971.
Available via NASA NTRS (NASA Technical Reports Server) @ https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19730005152.pdf
Available via Universities Space Research Association’s (USRA) Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) @ https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/lunar_orbiter/book/lopam.pdf

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Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/10081

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Mare Imbrium.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3678

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Mons Ampère.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3971

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Mons Huygens.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3987

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Montes Apenninus.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/4004

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