Einstein Crater Honors German American Physicist Albert Einstein

Summary: Einstein Crater honors German American physicist Albert Einstein, whose 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics recognized his photoelectric effect discovery.

Detail of mosaic of two images, obtained in 1967 by Lunar 4 mission, shows Einstein Crater, with Einstein A (interior floor center), portion of intruding neighbor Dalton Crater (upper right), and satellites S (lower left) and R (lower right corner); NASA ID 4188 H2 and 4188 H3: James Stuby (Jstuby), Public Domain (CC0 1.0), via Wikimedia Commons

The lunar near side’s Einstein Crater honors German American physicist Albert Einstein, whose 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics recognized contributions to theoretical physics, including his discovery of the photoelectric effect.

Einstein Crater is a large lunar impact crater in the near side’s northwestern quadrant. The equatorial latitude crater’s placement near the western limb vexes visibility by Earth-based observers.

Einstein’s obliterated outer rim attests to the crater’s bombardment by many small impacts. The crater’s interior floor reveals scatterings of craters, especially in the northwest and southeast. A portion of the southwestern floor displays relative levelness.

Einstein Crater is centered at 16.6 degrees north latitude, minus 88.65 degrees west longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The northern hemisphere crater’s northernmost and southernmost latitudes reach 19.6 degrees north and 13.61 degrees north, respectively. The western hemisphere crater’s easternmost and westernmost longitudes occur at minus 85.54 west and minus 91.77 degrees west, respectively. Einstein Crater’s diameter measures 181.47 kilometers.

Einstein Crater parents three satellites in the terrain west of western Oceanus Procellarum. Einstein A resides at the center of its parent’s interior floor. Satellites R and S occur as their parent’s western satellites.

Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms) stretches from southern equatorial to northern polar latitudes along the near side’s western edge. The vast lunar mare (Latin: mare, “sea”) bears the unique designation of oceanus (Greek: Ωκεανός, Okeanós, “ocean”) in recognition of its status as the moon’s largest mare feature.

Oceanus Procellarum is centered at 20.67 degrees north latitude, minus 56.68 degrees west longitude. Its northernmost and southernmost latitudes extend to 57.43 degrees north and minus 16.27 degrees south. It establishes easternmost and westernmost longitudes at minus 26.85 degrees west and minus 81.08 degrees west, respectively. Oceanus Procellarum’s length spans 2,592.24 kilometers.

Dalton Crater and Moseley Crater are Einstein’s Crater’s nearest named, non-Einstein Crater system neighbors. Dalton is attached to Einstein Crater’s eastern rim. Moseley resides near Einstein’s north-northeastern rim.

Dalton is centered at 17.07 degrees north latitude, minus 84.45 degrees west longitude. The terraced crater marks northernmost and southernmost latitudes at 18.07 degrees north and 16.06 degrees north, respectively. It posts easternmost and westernmost longitudes of minus 83.41 degrees west and minus 85.5 degrees west, respectively. Dalton Crater has a diameter of 60.69 kilometers.

Moseley is centered at 20.95 degrees north latitude, minus 90.2 degrees west longitude. The eroded lunar impact crater obtains northernmost and southernmost latitudes of 22.42 degrees north and 19.49 degrees north, respectively. It finds easternmost and westernmost longitudes at minus 88.63 degrees west and minus 91.77 degrees west, respectively. Moseley Crater’s diameter measures 88.89 kilometers.

The Einstein Crater system honors German American physicist Albert Einstein (March 14, 1879-April 18, 1955). The International Astronomical Union approved Einstein as the primary crater’s official name in 1964 during the organization’s XIIth (12th) General Assembly, held Tuesday, Aug. 25, to Thursday, Sept. 3. The Einstein Crater system’s three satellites received their official designations in 2006.

In 1999, Time Magazine compiled a list of the 20th century’s 100 most influential people. The magazine’s Dec. 31, 1999, issue announced Albert Einstein as “the Person of the Century,” the one out of 100 whom history would imbue with bestowing the most lasting importance.

The theoretical physicist from Ulm, in the German Empire’s (Jan. 18, 1871-Nov. 9, 1918) Kingdom of Württemberg (Jan. 1, 1806-Nov. 9, 1918), famously worked as a technical expert from July 1902 to autumn 1909 at the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (Eidgenössisches Institut für Geistiges Eigentum IGE) in Bern after receiving his diploma in 1900 from Zürich’s polytechnic institute (eidgenössische polytechnische Schule; renamed in 1911 as Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich ETC Zürich). On April 30, 1905, Einstein completed his Ph.D. thesis at the University of Zürich.

At the time of the awarding of the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics to Einstein the well-traveled theoretical physicist was affiliated with the Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science (Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften; renamed in 1948 as Max Planck Gesellschaft MPG). Einstein received the award one year later, in 1922. The delay was prompted by the application of a Nobel Foundation statute by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the awarders of the Nobel Prize in Physics. The Nobel Prize website explains that the statute allows a one-year reservation of an award when the selection process determines that the year’s nominees do not meet the criteria outlined in Alfred Nobel’s (Oct. 21, 1833-Dec. 10, 1896) will.

The Nobel Prize website attributes the motivation for Einstein’s selection as Nobel Laureate to recognition of “. . . his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect.” The photoelectric effect concerns the emission of electrons from light-matter interactions. Einstein theorized the presence of discrete quanta, known now as photons, rather than of continuous waves, in the composition of light as an explanation for the observed effect. Einstein’s first proposal of energy quanta appeared in a paper entitled Über einen die Erzeugung und Verwandlung des Lichtes betreffenden heuristischen Gesichttspunkt (On a Heuristic Viewpoint Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light), published in June 1905 issue of Annalen der Physic.

The takeaways for Einstein Crater, which honors German American physicist Albert Einstein, are that the lunar impact crater occupies the near side’s northwestern quadrant; that the primary crater parents three satellites in the terrain to the west of Oceanus Procellarum; that the crater system’s placement near the western limb vexes its visibility to Earth-based observers; and that the Einstein Crater system’s namesake was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics for “services to Theoretical Physics” and specifically for discovering the photoelectric effect of light-matter interactions.

Detail of Shaded Relief and Color-Coded Topography Map shows Einstein Crater (upper center), with neighbors Moseley (upper center) and Dalton (center), between Oceanus Procellarum and the near side’s western limb: 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 mosaic of two images, obtained in 1967 by Lunar 4 mission, shows Einstein Crater, with Einstein A (interior floor center), portion of intruding neighbor Dalton Crater (upper right), and satellites S (lower left) and R (lower right corner); NASA ID 4188 H2 and 4188 H3: James Stuby (Jstuby), Public Domain (CC0 1.0), via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Einstein_crater_4188_h2_4188_h3.jpg

Detail of Shaded Relief and Color-Coded Topography Map shows Einstein Crater (upper center), with neighbors Moseley (upper center) and Dalton (center), between Oceanus Procellarum and the near side’s western limb: U.S. Geological Survey, Public Domain, via USGS Astrogeology Science Center / Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/images/moon_nearside.pdf

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