Earth and Space News: Richardson Crater Honors British Physicist Sir Owen Willans Richardson

Summary: The lunar far side’s Richardson Crater honors British physicist Sir Owen Willans Richardson, 1928 Nobel Prize awardee for thermionic emission research.

Details of Lunar Astronautical Charts (LAC) 29 (above) and 46 (below) show the Richardson Crater system in the lunar far side’s northwestern quadrant; courtesy NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) / GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center) / ASU (Arizona State University): U.S. Geological Survey, Public Domain, via USGS Astrogeology Science Center / Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

The lunar far side’s Richardson Crater honors British physicist Sir Owen Willans Richardson, whose 1928 Nobel Prize recognized his research on thermionic emission, the temperature-effected release of electrons by hot metals.

Richardson Crater occupies the lunar far side’s northwestern quadrant, beyond the near side’s eastern limb. It lies to the northeast of the near side eastern limb-straddling Mare Marginis (Sea of the Edge).

Mare Marginis is centered at 12.7 degrees north latitude, 86.52 degrees east longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. It records northernmost and southernmost latitudes of 18.59 degrees north and 9.81 degrees north, respectively. The lunar mare posts easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 93.35 degrees east and 81.15 degrees east, respectively. Mare Marginis has a diameter of 357.63 kilometers.

The large lunar impact crater’s rim is eroded and worn. Craterlets pockmark Richardson’s relatively level interior floor.

Richardson Crater is centered at 30.93 degrees south latitude, 99.89 degrees east longitude. The northern hemisphere crater’s northernmost and southernmost latitudes reach 33.63 degrees north and 28.27 degrees north, respectively. The eastern hemisphere crater’s easternmost and westernmost longitudes extend to 103.06 degrees east and 96.8 degrees east, respectively. The far side crater’s diameter spans 162.56 kilometers.

Richardson Crater participates in a chain of overlapping craters. Richardson underlies Maxwell Crater, which, in turn, Lomonosov intrudes.

Maxwell Crater covers a substantial portion of southwestern Richardson. Maxwell is centered at 29.9 degrees north latitude, 98.53 degrees east longitude. It obtains northernmost and southernmost latitudes at 31.71 degrees north and 28.1 degrees north, respectively. Maxwell registers easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 100.6 degrees east and 96.45 degrees east, respectively. Maxwell Crater’s diameter measures 109.24 kilometers.

Lomonosov Crater occupies southern Maxwell Crater. The dark-floored crater marks northernmost and southernmost latitudes at 28.85 degrees north and 25.85 degrees north, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes occur at 99.96 degrees east and 96.59 degrees east, respectively. Lomonosov has a diameter of 90.69 kilometers.

In addition to sharing space with primary craters Maxwell and Lomonosov, Richardson Crater parents satellite Richardson W on its northwestern rim. Primary crater Richardson is credited with a second satellite. Richardson E neighbors near its parent’s eastern rim.

The Richardson Crater system honors British physicist Sir Owen Willans Richardson (April 26, 1879-Feb. 15, 1959). The International Astronomical Union approved the primary crater’s official name in 1979 during the organization’s XVIIth (17th) General Assembly, held Tuesday, Aug. 14, to Thursday, Aug. 23, in Montreal, Canada. Prior to its formal naming, Richardson Crater was designated as Crater 114. The system’s two satellites received their official designations in 2006.

Sir Owen Willans Richardson was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1928 in recognition of “his work on the thermionic phenomenon and especially for the discovery of the law named after him,” states the Nobel Foundation’s Nobel Prize website. Richardson’s research explains the thermionic phenomenon as a heat-generated liberation of electrons in hot metal from their atoms that allows the freed electrons to act as free charged particles.

The mathematical equation that Richardson subsequently formulated relates electron emissions with temperature. He revealed his discovery in a paper entitled “On the Negative Radiation From Hot Platinum” that he read Nov. 25, 1901, for the Cambridge Philosophical Society. He stated the equation as: “If then the negative radiation is due to the corpuscles coming out of the metal, the saturation current(s) should obey the law s = A’Θ^1/2e^-b/Θ” (page 287).

Richardson’s thermionic emission equation is known as Richardson’s law. The formula is known alternatively as the Richardson-Dushman equation in recognition of contributions by Russian-American physical chemist Saul Dushman (July 12, 1883-July 7, 1954).

The takeaways for the lunar far side’s Richardson Crater, which honors British physicist Sir Owen Willans Richardson, are that the large lunar impact participates in a chain of superimposed craters with Lomonosov and Maxwell; that Richardson occupies the northwestern quadrant, to the northeast of lunar limb straddler Mare Marginis; and that the crater’s namesake received the 1928 Nobel Prize in Physics for his research on thermionic emission, the process of electron liberation via high temperature heating.

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Northward view, obtained April 1972 with 70mm Hasselblad camera during TransEarth Coast (TEC) by Apollo 16 mission, shows succession of overlapped craters (left to right; upper left), Lomonosov, Maxwell and Richardson, with Richardson E (center right) and Richardson W (upper right); camera altitude 123 kilometers; NASA ID AS16-122-19575: No known copyright restrictions, via GetArchive NARA (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration) & DVIDS (Defense Visual Information Distribution Service) Public Domain Archive @ https://nara.getarchive.net/media/as16-122-19575-apollo-16-apollo-16-mission-image-post-tei-view-northwestward-f87b9b;
Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AS16-122-19575.jpg

For further information:

Consolmagno, Guy; and Dan M. Davis. Turn Left at Orion. Fourth edition. Cambridge UK; New York NY: Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Grego, Peter. The Moon and How to Observe It. Astronomers’ Observing Guides. London UK: Springer-Verlag, 2005.

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Mare Marginis.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3681

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Richardson.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/5027

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Richardson E.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/12601

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Richardson W.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/12602

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

Levy, David H. Skywatching. Revised and updated. San Francisco CA: Fog City Press, 1994.

Marriner, Derdriu. “Near Side Lunar Crater Swift Honors American Astronomer Lewis Swift.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/01/near-side-lunar-crater-swift-honors.html

The Moon Wiki. “IAU Directions.” The Moon.
Available @ https://the-moon.us/wiki/IAU_directions

The Moon Wiki. “Richardson.” The Moon > Lunar Features Alphabetically > R Nomenclature.
Available @ https://the-moon.us/wiki/Richardson

The Moon Wiki. “Mare Marginis.” The Moon > Lunar Features Alphabetically > S Nomenclature.
Available @ https://the-moon.us/wiki/Mare_Marginis

Moore, Patrick, Sir. Philip’s Atlas of the Universe. Revised edition. London UK: Philip’s, 2005.

Richardson, O.W. (Owen Willans). “On the Negative Radiation From Hot Platinum. Read 25 November 1901.” Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, vol. XI (October 29, 1900-May 19, 1902), part IV (Michaelmas Term 1901): 286-295. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press, 1902.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34812898

Wayman, P. (Patrick), ed. XVIIth General Assembly Transactions of the IAU Vol. XVII B Proceedings of the 17th General Assembly Montreal, Canada, August 14-23, 1979. Washington DC: Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Jan. 1, 1980.
Available via IAU @ https://www.iau.org/publications/iau/transactions_b/

Wilson, William. “Owen Willans Richardson 1879-1959.” Biographical Memoirs of the Fellows of the Royal Society, vol. 5 (February 1960): 207-210.
Available via JSTOR @ https://www.jstor.org/stable/769287

Earth and Space News

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Richardson Crater Honors British Physicist Sir Owen Willans Richardson

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