Lunar Near Side Crater Amundsen Parents One Satellite Near South Pole

Summary: Lunar near side crater Amundsen parents one satellite near the south pole as an intruder in Amundsen’s former satellite, Hédervári Crater.

Map shows lineup of parent crater Amundsen (center left), next to Hédervári Crater (former satellite A), which hosts Amundsen satellite C (green; center) in its northern rim, wall and floor: Courtesy ASU (Arizona State University)/NASA, via IAU/USGS Astrogeology Science Center Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

Lunar near side crater Amundsen parents one satellite near the south pole as an intrusive craterlet, Amundsen C, on Hédervari Crater, Amundsen’s former satellite A.

Amundsen Crater formerly claimed two satellites in the lunar near side’s southeastern quadrant. Amundsen A hugs primary crater Amundsen’s northern rim. Intervening between parent and satellite, Amundsen A hosts Amundsen C, which is positioned in satellite A’s northern region.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) upgraded satellite A to a primary crater with official renaming as Hédervári Crater in 1994, during the organization’s XXIInd (22nd) General Assembly, held in The Hague, Netherlands, from Monday, Aug. 15, to Saturday, Aug. 27. Hédervári’s namesake is Hungarian geophysicist Péter Hédervári (April 29, 1931-June 27, 1984).

Amundsen satellite C is centered at minus 80.76 degrees south latitude, 85.21 degrees east longitude, according to the IAU’s Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The satellite registers northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 80.36 degrees south and minus 81.16 degrees south, respectively. Amundsen C’s easternmost and westernmost longitudes reach to 87.7 degrees east and 82.72 degrees east, respectively. The satellite has a diameter of 24.22 kilometers.

Satellite C not only overlaps Hédervári’s northern rim but also intrudes into its interior. C occupies Hédervári’s inner wall and claims part of the interior floor.

Satellite C’s parent distinguishes itself as a flat-floored, large impact crater. Central peaks emerge in the interior floor’s midpoint. The larger northern peak rises to 1,500 meters and the smaller, southern peak stands 1,300 meters above the floor, according to retired physicist Jim Mosher in his contribution to The Moon Wiki.

Primary crater Amundsen is centered at minus 84.44 degrees south latitude, 83.07 degrees east longitude. Amundsen obtains northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 82.85 degrees south and minus 86.26 degrees south, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes stretch to 104.12 degrees east and 67.6 degrees east, respectively. Amundsen’s diameter of 103.39 kilometer exceeds its satellite’s 24.22-kilometer diameter by approximately 75 percent.

Amundsen and its satellite fall within the moon’s permanently shadowed regions (PSRs). The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio’s (SVS) March 6, 2013, feature, “The Moon’s Permanently Shadowed Regions,” explains that “there are some parts of the Moon that never see sunlight.” The nearly perpendicular tilt of the lunar axis to the direction of sunlight accounts for the dark appearance of these permanently shadowed regions. “The result is that the bottoms of certain craters, like here at the Moon’s south pole, are never pointed toward the Sun, with some remaining dark for over two billion years,” notes the Scientific Visualization Studio’s presentation.

Amundsen’s terraced southern wall and southern floor receive sunlight. Sunlight illuminates the floor’s central peaks. Shadows cloak the crater’s northern wall and northern floor.

The sun illuminates the arc of Amundsen C’s southern rim. Darkness hides the rest of the petite satellite.

The IAU approved parent crater Amundsen’s name in 1964, during the organization’s XIIth (12th) General Assembly, which was held in Hamburg, Germany, from Tuesday, Aug. 25, to Thursday, Sept. 3. Satellite C’s designation received approval in 2006, during the IAU’s XXVIth (26th) General Assembly, held Monday, Aug. 14, to Friday, Aug. 25, in Prague, Czech Republic.

The Amundsen crater system is named after Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (July 16, 1872-June 18, 1928). The Norwegian polar explorer led expeditions that accomplished the first navigation of Canadian Arctic Archipelago’s Northwest Passage (1905), the first reach of the South Pole by ground (1911) and the first overflight of the North Pole (1926). Amundsen and five mission members disappeared Monday, June 18, 1928, during their search for airship Italia, which had crashed on Arctic pack ice Friday, May 25, northeast of the Svalbard Archipelago’s Nordaustlandet (North East Land) Island.

The takeaway for lunar near side crater Amundsen’s parentage of one satellite near the south pole is that former Amundsen satellite A, now renamed as primary crater Hédervári, intervenes between Amundsen and its sole satellite, Amundsen C.

Detail shows (left to right) Amundsen Crater (left center) with Hédervári (covered by letters “Am”) and satellite C (covered by letters “un”); U.S. Geological Survey Color-Coded Topography and Shaded Relief Map of Lunar South Hemisphere, prepared for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; 2002; Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area projection: U.S. Geological Survey, via USGS Publications Warehouse

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Map shows lineup of parent crater Amundsen (center left), next to Hédervári Crater (former satellite A), which hosts Amundsen satellite C (green; center) in its northern rim, wall and floor: Courtesy ASU (Arizona State University)/NASA, via IAU/USGS Astrogeology Science Center Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/7236

Detail shows (left to right) Amundsen Crater (left center) with Hédervári (covered by letters “Am”) and satellite C (covered by letters “un”); U.S. Geological Survey Color-Coded Topography and Shaded Relief Map of Lunar South Hemisphere, prepared for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; 2002; Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area projection: U.S. Geological Survey, via USGS Publications Warehouse @ https://pubs.usgs.gov/imap/i2769/

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