Finsen Crater Honors Faroese Phototherapist Niels Ryberg Finsen

Summary: Finsen Crater honors Faroese phototherapist Niels Ryberg Finsen, recipient of the 1903 Nobel Prize for his theory of light as a medical treatment.

Detail of oblique, facing west, obtained 1967 by Lunar Orbiter 5, shows Finsen Crater; NASA ID Frame 5065: James Stuby (Jstuby), Public Domain (CC0 1.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Finsen Crater honors Faroese phototherapist Niels Ryberg Finsen, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology of Medicine 1903 for his theory of phototherapy, which considers the beneficial medical effects of certain wavelengths of light.

Finsen Crater is a lunar impact crater that occupies the portions of the southern hemisphere and western hemisphere that fall on the moon’s far side. Its residence near the western edge of the far side’s southeastern quadrant places the crater in proximity to the 180th meridian, the antimeridian. Finsen’s westernmost extent misses the antimeridian by only 0.35 degrees.

Outward protrusions mangle the circularity of Finsen Crater’s rim. Short terraces line the crater’s inner wall.

The complex crater’s central peak formation brightens the crater’s midpoint. The central peak formation’s higher albedo (Latin: “whiteness”), or higher light reflectivity, contrasts with the darkness of the surrounding floor’s lower albedo, or lower light reflectance.

Finsen Crater is centered at minus 42.29 degrees south latitude, minus 177.72 degrees west longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The southern hemisphere crater’s northernmost and southernmost latitudes stretch from minus 41.09 degrees south to minus 43.49 degrees south, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost extents reach from minus 176.1 degrees west longitude to minus 179.35 degrees west longitude, respectively. Finsen Crater’s diameter measures 72.98 kilometers.

The primary crater parents two satellites. Both of the Finsen Crater system’s two satellites associate with their parent’s eastern side.

Finsen Crater adjoins the southeastern exterior of its north-northwestern neighbor, Leibnitz Crater. Dark lava-floored Leibnitz Crater is centered at minus 38.24 degrees south latitude, 179.49 degrees east longitude. The southern hemisphere crater records northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 34.35 degrees south and minus 42.12 degrees south, respectively. The eastern-western hemisphere straddler reports easternmost and westernmost longitudes of minus 175.78 degrees west and 174.79 degrees east, respectively. Leibnitz Crater’s diameter spans 236.67 kilometers.

Finsen Crater honors Faroese phototherapist Niels Ryberg Finsen (Dec. 15, 1860-Sept. 24, 1904). The International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved Finsen as the crater’s official name in 1979, during the organization’s XVIIth (17th) General Assembly, which was held in Montreal, Canada, from Tuesday, Aug. 14, to Thursday, Aug. 23. The letter designations of the Finsen Crater system’s two satellites were adopted in 2006.

The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine as an annual recognition of outstanding discoveries in life sciences or medicine. Headquartered in Stockholm’s the research-led medical university, the Nobel Assembly awarded the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physiology / Medicine to Niels Finsen. The prestigious prize recognized Finsen’s “. . . contribution to the treatment of diseases, especially lupus vulgaris, with concentrated light radiation, whereby he has opened a new avenue for medical science.”

The Nobel Prize website notes that by the age of 23, in 1883, Finsen was suffering from Niemann-Pick disease. The metabolic disorder impairs the function of the heart, liver and spleen by progressively thickening the connective tissue of certain membranes in the afflicted organs. Finsen credited his disease as motivation for his experiments and research on the medical benefits of certain wavelengths of light.

In 1882, Finsen had begun the study of medicine at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark’s oldest university and research institution. When Finsen received his Doctor of Medicine eight years later, in 1890, he was “already a confirmed invalid” (page 100), according to the tribute read Jan. 28, 1905, at the Canadian Institute by Dr. Charles Rea Dickson (1858-?).

Finsen’s debility precluded his entrance into the active practice of medicine. Thus, his alma mater immediately appointed him as Prosector of Anatomy, an anatomist skilled in professionally prepared dissection for hospitals and medical schools.

In his spare time, when not involved in his prosection position, Finsen pursued the experiments with light that he had been conducting during his student years. The publication of his paper, Om Lysets Indvirkninger paa Huden (On the Effects of Light on the Skin), in 1893 allowed him to become a full-time researcher. His two-year research and experiments on lupus vulgaris, known popularly then as “wolf cancer,” culminated in his groundbreaking paper, “The Treatment of Lupus Vulgaris by Concentrated Chemical Rays,” in 1897.

In April 1896, the Finsen Medical Light Institute was founded in Copenhagen through the benefaction of two wealthy supporters, Danish businessmen Gustav Adolph Hagemann (May 16, 1842-April 26, 1916) and Vilhelm Jørgensen (May 2, 1844-Sept. 13, 1925). Niels Finsen served as the institute’s first director.

The takeaways for Finsen Crater, which honors Faroese phototherapist Niels Ryberg Finsen, are that the complex lunar impact crater lies in the lunar far side’s southeastern quadrant near the moon’s antimeridian, the lunar 180th meridian; that the Finsen Crater system includes two satellites; and that the Finsen Crater system’s namesake was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology / Medicine in 1903 in recognition of his pioneering achievements in effectively treating medical diseases, such as lupus vulgaris and smallpox, with certain wavelengths of light.

Detail of Shaded Relief and Color-Coded Topography Map shows Finsen Crater (center right) along Leibnitz Crater’s southeastern rim in the lunar far side’s southeastern quadrant: 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 oblique, facing west, obtained 1967 by Lunar Orbiter 5, shows Finsen Crater; NASA ID Frame 5065: James Stuby (Jstuby), Public Domain (CC0 1.0), via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Finsen_crater_5065_med.jpg

Detail of Shaded Relief and Color-Coded Topography Map shows Finsen Crater (center right) along Leibnitz Crater’s southeastern rim in the lunar far side’s southeastern quadrant: 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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