Vestine Crater Honors American Geophysicist Ernest Harry Vestine

Summary: The lunar far side’s Vestine Crater honors American geophysicist Ernest Harry Vestine, whose research interests included geomagnetism and noctilucent clouds.

Details of Lunar Astronautical Charts (LAC) 29 shows the Vestine 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 Vestine Crater honors American geophysicist Ernest Harry Vestine, whose geophysical and meteorological research interests included geomagnetism and noctilucent clouds.

Vestine Crater is a greatly eroded lunar impact crater in the lunar far side’s northwestern quadrant. A rounded ridge approximately marks the crater’s midpoint. The relatively smooth interior floor is speckled with small craterlets and at least three larger craterlets.

Vestine is centered at 33.87 degrees south latitude, 93.68 degrees east longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The northern hemisphere crater obtains northernmost and southernmost latitudes at 35.48 degrees north and 32.26 degrees north, respectively. The primary crater’s easternmost and westernmost longitudes occur at 95.62 degrees east and 91.74 degrees east, respectively. Vestine Crater’s diameter spans 97.81 kilometers.

Vestine Crater members in the Vestine Crater system as a primary crater credited with two satellites. The parent neighbors its satellites. Vestine T projects off its parent’s northwestern rim, which covers the satellite’s eastern half. Vestine A claims proximitous placement near its parent’s north-northeastern rim.

Vestine A is centered at 36.02 degrees south latitude, 94.57 degrees east longitude. The satellite records northernmost and southernmost latitudes at 35.31 degrees north and 35.73 degrees north, respectively. It registers easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 94.93 degrees east and 94.21 degrees east, respectively. Vestine A has a diameter of 17.58 kilometers.

Vestine A lies between its parent and Harkhebi, its parent’s north-northeastern primary neighbor. Harkhebi is centered at 40.87 degrees north latitude, 98.74 degrees east longitude. The impact-riddled crater posts northernmost and southernmost latitudes of 46.36 degrees north and 35.34 degrees north, respectively. The large lunar impact crater’s easternmost and westernmost longitudes stretch from 104.6 degrees east to 92.94 degrees east, respectively. Harkhebi dwarfs satellite A’s parent with a diameter of 337.14 kilometers.

Vestine T is centered at 33.64 degrees south latitude, 91.05 degrees east longitude. Its northernmost and southernmost latitudes reach 34.54 degrees north and 32.73 degrees north, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes extend to 91.99 degrees east and 90.11 degrees east, respectively. Vestine T’s diameter of 59.2 kilometers qualifies it as the larger of the Vestine Crater system’s two satellites. Satellite T’s diameter almost approximates 61 percent of its parent’s diameter of 97.81 kilometers.

The Vestine Crater system occupies the lunar far side’s northwestern quadrant. The parent and its two satellites lie to the north-northeast of lunar-limb straddling Mare Marginis. The Sea of the Edge wraps around the near side’s eastern limb to extend its eastern reaches into the far side.

The irregularly-outlined Mare Marginis is centered at 12.7 degrees south latitude, 86.52 degrees east longitude. The dark basaltic plain’s northernmost and southernmost latitudes extend from 1839 degrees north to 9.81 degrees north, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes stretch from 93.35 degrees east to 81.15 degrees east, respectively. The Sea of the Edge’s diameter spans 357.63 kilometers.

The Vestine Crater system honors American geophysicist Ernest Harry Vestine (May 9, 1906-Juy 18, 1968). The International Astronomical Union approved the primary crater’s official name in 1970 during the organization’s XIVth (14th) General Assembly, which was held from Tuesday, Aug. 18, to Thursday, Aug. 27, in the seaside resort of Brighton in South East England. The Vestine Crater system’s two satellites received their official designations in 2006.

American astronomer, geophysicist and physicist Scott Ellsworth Forbush (April 10, 1904-April 4, 1984) recognized Vestine’s critical contributions to geomagnetism with his co-authorships of The Description of the Earth’s Main Magnetic Field and Its Secular Change, 1905-1945 and The Geomagnetic Field, Its Description and Analysis. Both volumes, published by the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1947, systematized four decades of geomagnetic data. Vestine worked in the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Terrestrial Magnetism from 1938 to 1956.

Earlier in his career, Vestine pursued his interest in the upper atmosphere’s noctilucent, or night-shining, clouds. During the Second International Polar Year (IPY), which took place from 1932 to 1933, Vestine was stationed at the Meanook Magnetic Observatory in northern Alberta, Canada. He published his authoritative findings in 1934 in the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

The takeaways for the lunar far side’s Vestine Crater, which honors 20th-century American geophysicist Ernest Harry Vestine, are that the primary lunar impact crater parents two satellites, Vestine A and Vestine T; that the Vestine Crater system occupies the northwestern quadrant, to the north-northeast of lunar limb straddling Mare Marginis; and that the crater’s namesake’s scientific contributions included a two-volume publication on Earth’s magnetism and meteorological studies of noctilucent clouds.

Detail of oblique view, obtained during Apollo 16 mission, shows Vestine Crater (center) with Vestine T (upper left) and Vestine A (upper right); NASA ID AS16-M-3008: James Stuby (Jstuby), Public Domain (CC0 1.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Details of Lunar Astronautical Charts (LAC) 29 shows the Vestine 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 @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/images/Lunar/lac-29_wac.pdf

Detail of oblique view, during Apollo 16 mission, shows Vestine Crater (center) with Vestine T (upper left) and Vestine A (upper right); NASA ID AS16-M-3008: James Stuby (Jstuby), Public Domain (CC0 1.0), via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vestine_crater_AS16-M-3008_ASU.jpg

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