Mees Crater Honors British-Born American Photographer Kenneth Mees

Summary: Lunar far side Mees Crater honors British-born photographer Kenneth Mees, developer of sensitive emulsions for astronomical photography.

Detail of Lunar Astronautical Charts (LAC) 72 shows the lunar far side’s Mees Crater system of parental Mees (left center) and satellites A (upper center), Y (upper left) and J (center); 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 Mees Crater honors British-born photographer Kenneth Mees, whose development of emulsions sensitive to the infrared and red spectrum increased understanding of the stellar radiant energy.

Mees Crater appears as a broken-circled crater in the lunar far side’s northeastern quadrant. Craterlets particularly pimple the crater’s western ramparts and northeastern inner wall.

The primary crater is centered at 13.57 north latitude, minus 96.18 degrees west longitude, according to the International Astrnomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The crater’s northernmost and southernmost latitudes occur at 14.42 degrees north and 12.72 degrees north, respectively. It obtains easternmost and westernmost longitudes at minus 95.31 degrees west and minus 97.05 degrees west, respectively. Mees Crater’s diameter measures 51.55 kilometers.

Mees Crater parents three satellites. Northern satellites A and Y are settled to their parent’s north-northeast and north-northwest, respectively. Southern satellite J is sited to the southeast of its parent.

Satellite A is centered at 15.64 degrees north latitude, minus 95.31 degrees west longitude. It posts northernmost and southernmost latitudes of 16.21 degrees north and 15.08 degrees north, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes are found at minus 94.72 degrees west and minus 95.9 degrees west, respectively. Mees A has a diameter of 34.32 kilometers.

Mees Y claims the most northerly and most westerly location of the Mees Crater system’s three satellites. Satellite A snuggles along Y’s eastern rim.

Satellite Y is centered at 15.73 degrees north latitude, minus 96.74 degrees west longitude. Its northernmost and southernmost latitudes reach 17 degrees north and 14.45 degrees north, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes extend to minus 95.42 degrees west and minus 98.07 degrees west, respectively. Mees Y’s diameter spans 77.38 kilometers.

Mees Y’s diameter qualifies it as the largest of the Mees Crater system’s three satellites. Y also claims the largest diameter in the Mees Crater system, as its 77.38-kilometer diameter exceeds its parent’s 51.55-kilometer diameter.

Mees J claims the most southerly and most easterly location of the Mees Crater system’s three satellites. Its easternmost longitude surpasses Mees A’s easternmost point by less than half of a degree.

Satellite J is centered at 12.29 degrees north latitude, minus 94.86 degrees west longitude. It records northernmost and southernmost latitudes of 12.69 degrees north and 11.89 degrees north, respectively. J registers easternmost and westernmost longitudes of minus 94.45 degrees west and minus 95.27 degrees west, respectively. With a diameter of 24.35 kilometers, Mees J qualifies as the smallest of the Mees Crater system’s three satellites.

The Mees Crater system is located in the far northern outskirts of the Mare Orientale (Eastern Sea) impact basin. It lies beyond Montes Cordillera, the outermost of the three rings surrounding the bull’s-eye lunar mare.

Mare Orientale is centered at minus 19.87 degrees south latitude, minus 94.67 degrees west longitude. Its northernmost and southernmost latitudes stretch from minus 15.23 degrees south to minus 24.39 degrees south, respectively. The lunar mare’s easternmost and westernmost longitudes occur at minus 89.74 degrees west and minus 99.96 degrees west, respectively. Mare Orientale’s diameter spans 294.16 kilometers.

Mees Crater honors British-born American photographer C.E. (Charles Edward) Kenneth Mees (May 26, 1882-Aug. 15, 1960). The International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved Mees as the crater’s official name in 1970, during the organization’s XIVth (14th) General Assembly, held in Brighton, United Kingdom, from Tuesday, Aug. 18, to Thursday, Aug. 27. Prior to its formal naming, Mees Crater was designated as Crater 260.

Approval of the letter designations for the Bragg Crater system’s three satellites was granted in 2006. Prior to name formalization, satellites A and Y were referenced as craters 261 and 259, respectively.

Mees received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1903 and his Ph.D. in 1906, both from the University of London. He researched the photographic process for both his undergraduate and graduate theses.

Mees expanded his longstanding interest in sensitizing the photographic process to the visible light spectrum to include improvements for scientific work, particularly in astronomy and spectroscopy. At a new emulsion research laboratory that he had established in 1931 at the Eastman Kodak Research Laboratories in Rochester, New York, Mees developed emulsions with sensitivity to a wide range of visible and near infra-red spectral bands. In 1936, the United States National Academy of Sciences (NAS) recognized the significance of Mees’ emulsions for astronomical research by awarding him the Henry Draper Medal.

The takeaways for Mees Crater, which honors British-born American photographer Kenneth Mees, are that the steep-walled primary crater occupies the northern edge of ejecta from the Mare Orientale (Eastern Sea) impact basin in the lunar far side’s northeastern quadrant; that Mees Crater parents three satellites; and that the Mees Crater system’s namesake developed emulsions that greatly advanced astronomical research in stellar radiant energy via their sensitivities to infrared and red spectral bands.

Detail of Shaded Relief and Color-Coded Topography Map shows lunar far side’s Mees Crater (upper center) as lunar far side northeastern quadrant crater, located north of Mare Orientale (bottom), beyond the Orientale impact basin’s third ring, Montes Cordillera (center): U.S. Geological Survey, Public Domain, via USGS Astrogeology Science Center / 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:

Detail of Lunar Astronautical Charts (LAC) 72 shows the lunar far side’s Mees Crater system of parental Mees (left center) and satellites A (upper center), Y (upper left) and J (center); 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/lac72_wac.pdf

Detail of Shaded Relief and Color-Coded Topography Map shows lunar far side’s Mees Crater (upper center) as lunar far side northeastern quadrant crater, located north of Mare Orientale (bottom), beyond the Orientale impact basin’s third ring, Montes Cordillera (center): U.S. Geological Survey, Public Domain, via USGS Astrogeology Science Center / Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/images/moon_farside.pdf

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