Dreyer Crater Honors Danish British Astronomer John Louis Emil Dreyer

Summary: Dreyer Crater honors Danish British astronomer John Louis Emil Dreyer, who is best known for carefully compiled nebulae and star cluster catalogues.

Details of Lunar Astronautical Chart (LAC) 64 shows the lunar far side’s Dreyer Crater with its six satellites along the eastern edge of Mare Marginis (Sea of the Edge); courtesy NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) / GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center) / ASU (Arizona State University): Public Domain, via USGS Astrogeology Science Center / Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

Dreyer Crater honors Danish British astronomer John Louis Emil Dreyer, whose astronomical publications include meticulously compiled catalogues of nebulae and star clusters.

Dreyer Crater occurs on the lunar far side as a lunar impact crater with a small opening at its south end. A low central ridge rises at the midpoint of the crater’s fairly level interior floor.

Dreyer Crater is centered at 10.24 degrees north latitude, 97.09 degrees east longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The northern hemisphere crater finds its northernmost and southernmost latitudes at 11.29 degrees north and 9.18 degrees north, respectively. The eastern hemisphere crater posts easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 98.16 degrees east and 96.03 degrees east, respectively. Gill Crater’s diameter spans 63.84 kilometers.

Dreyer Crater parents six satellites in the equatorial latitudes on the lunar far side. Four of the Gill Crater system’s six craters associate with their parent’s eastern side. Two satellites reside to the west of their parent.

Dreyer Crater lies along the eastern edge of Mare Marginis (Sea of the Edge). The equatorial-latitude lunar mare (Latin: mare, “sea”) wraps around the lunar near side’s northeastern limb in its occupancy of far side and near side portions of the moon’s eastern and northern hemispheres.

Mare Marginis is centered at 12.7 degrees north latitude, 86.52 degrees east longitude. The northern hemisphere lunar mare registers northernmost and southernmost latitudes of 18.59 degrees north and 9.81 degrees north, respectively. The eastern hemisphere lunar mare records easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 93.35 degrees east and 81.15 degrees east, respectively. Mare Marginis has a diameter of 357.63 kilometers.

Ginzel Crater and its attached satellite, Ginzel L, reside as Dreyer Crater’s nearest named, non-Dreyer system neighbors. They are located to the north-northeast of Dreyer Crater.

Ginzel Crater is centered at 14.25 degrees north latitude, 97.4 degrees east longitude. The largely flooded crater finds its northernmost and southernmost latitudes at 15.13 degrees north and 13.37 degrees north, respectively. It posts easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 98.31 degrees east and 96.49 degrees east, respectively. Ginzel Crater’s diameter measures 53.23 kilometers.

Ginzel L is attached to its parent’s southern rim. The flooded satellite is centered at 13.07 degrees north latitude, 97.8 degrees east longitude. It confines its northernmost and southernmost latitudes to 13.53 degrees north and 12.61 degrees north, respectively. It restricts its easternmost and westernmost longitudes to 98.27 degrees east and 97.33 degrees east, respectively. Ginzel L has a diameter of 27.99 kilometers.

Dreyer Crater honors Danish British astronomer John Louis Emil Dreyer (Feb. 13, 1852-Sept. 14, 1926). The International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved Dreyer as the crater’s official name in 1970, during the organization’s XIVth (15th) General Assembly, held in Brighton, United Kingdom, from Tuesday, Aug. 18, to Thursday, Aug. 27. Prior to its official naming, Dreyer Crater was referenced as Crater 191. The letter designations for the Dreyer Crater system’s six satellites received approval in 2006.

Dreyer’s obituary in the Feb. 11, 1927, issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society noted 14-year-old Dreyer’s reading of a book about accomplished Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (Dec. 14, 1546-Oct. 24, 1601) instilled in him the resolve to become an astronomer. He honored Brahe’s influence on astronomy in two massive publications. Tycho Brahe: A Picture of Scientific Life in the Sixteenth Century was published in 1890. He compiled all of Brahe’s writings into Omnia Opera Tychonis Brahe Dani, published in 15 volumes between 1913 and 1929.

The Royal Astronomical Society’s webpage on John Louis Emil Dreyer gives March 12, 1875, as the date of his election as a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (FRAS). Danish-born Dreyer became a British citizen in 1885.

Dreyer is best known for his meticulously compiled catalogues of nebulae and star clusters. In 1878, he published “A Supplement to Sir John Herschel’s ‘General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars’” in the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy. In 1888, he issued “A New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars, Being the Catalogue of the Late Sir John F.W. Herschel, Bart., Revised, Corrected and Enlarged” the Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society. In 1895, he published “Index Catalogue of Nebulae Found in the Years 1888 to 1894, With Notes and Corrections to the New General Catalogue” in the Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society. In 1908, he published the Second Index Catalogue in the Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society.

The takeaways for Dreyer Crater, which honors Danish British astronomer John Louis Emil Dreyer, are that the largely flooded, far side lunar impact crater lies along the eastern edge of Mare Marginis (Sea of the Edge), just beyond the near side’s northeastern limb; that the equatorial region crater parents six satellites; that the crater’s namesake was inspired by the astronomical accomplishments of 16th-century Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe to become an astronomer; and that Dreyer is best known for his meticulously compiled catalogues of nebulae and star clusters.

Detail of Shaded Relief and Color-Coded Topography Map shows Dreyer Crater as an equatorial neighbor of the lunar far side’s portion of Mare Marginis (Sea of the Edge): 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:

Details of Lunar Astronautical Chart (LAC) 64 shows the lunar far side’s Dreyer Crater with its six satellites along the eastern edge of Mare Marginis (Sea of the Edge); courtesy NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) / GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center) / ASU (Arizona State University): Public Domain, via USGS Astrogeology Science Center / Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/images/Lunar/lac_64_wac.pdf

Detail of Shaded Relief and Color-Coded Topography Map shows Dreyer Crater as an equatorial neighbor of the lunar far side’s portion of Mare Marginis (Sea of the Edge): 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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