Goclenius Crater Parents Two Satellites in Southwest Mare Fecunditatis

Summary: Goclenius Crater parents two satellites in southwest Mare Fecunditatis (Sea of Fecundity), an equator-straddling lava plain on the moon’s near side.

Detail of Lunar Aeronautical Chart (LAC) 80 shows Ibn Battuta (center left, fifth square from bottom) above Goclenius U (fourth square from bottom); scale 1:1,000,000; Mercator Projection: United States Air Force (USAF) Aeronautical Chart and Information Center (ACIC) via USGS/Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

Goclenius Crater parents two satellites in southwest Mare Fecunditatis (Sea of Fecundity), a dark, equator-straddling lava plain located in the lunar near side’s eastern hemisphere.

Goclenius Crater’s worn rim outlines the floor-fractured crater’s (FFC) irregular elliptical shape. Rilles (German: grooves) transect the primary crater’s fairly smooth, dark floor. Its somewhat egg-shaped shallow basin measures a depth of only 2.2 kilometers, according to geographer and U.S. Geological Survey geologist Richard J. Pike’s 1976 article, “Crater Dimensions From Apollo Data and Supplemental Sources” (page 464).

Primary crater Goclenius is centered on the lunar near side at minus 10.05 degrees south latitude, 45.03 degrees east longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Northernmost and southernmost latitudes extend to minus 9.17 degrees south and minus 10.93 degrees south, respectively. Goclenius maintains eastern hemisphere occupancy with easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 46.24 degrees east and 43.83 degrees east, respectively.

The lunar impact crater’s diameter spans 73.04 kilometers. Geologists Wilfred B. Bryan, Peter Alfons Jezek and Mary-Linda Adams confirm the crater’s “distorted” elliptical shape with measurements of 63 kilometers and 44 kilometers along the major and minor axes, respectively.

Goclenius satellite B perches on its parent’s step-like terraced northwestern wall. B is centered at minutes 9.22 degrees south latitude, 44.47 degrees east longitude. The satellite marks northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 9.12 degrees south and minus 9.33 degrees south, respectively. Easternmost and westernmost longitudes reach 44.58 degrees east and 44.37 degrees east, respectively. B has a diameter of 6.22 kilometers.

Satellite U lies to its parent’s east, farther away from the southwestern edges of Mare Fecunditatis. U is centered at minus 9.33 degrees south latitude, 50.15 degrees east longitude. Northernmost and southernmost latitudes extend to minus 8.97 degrees south and minus 9.7 degrees south, respectively. U claims easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 50.52 degrees east and 49.78 degrees east, respectively. Its diameter measures 22.14 kilometers.

Goclenius U’s distance from its parent crater places the satellite in the vicinity of Ibn Battuta, previously designated as Goclenius A. Located to the northeast of its former parent, Ibn Battuta lies approximately two-plus degrees north of Goclenius U.

Ibn Battuta is a circular, symmetrical lunar impact creater. A small crater sits, west of center, on Ibn Battuta’s dark floor.

Ibn Battuta is centered at minus 6.95 degrees south latitude, 50.44 degrees east longitude. Northernmost and southernmost latitudes register at minus 6.76 degrees south and minus 7.14 degrees south, respectively. Easternmost and westernmost longitudes reach 50.63 degrees east and 50.25 degrees east, respectively. Its diameter measures 11.51 kilometers.

Goclenius is named after Rudolf Göckel (Aug. 22, 1572-March 3, 1621), a German physician who taught physics, medicine and mathematics at the University of Marburg (German: Philipps-Universität Marburg) in central Germany’s State of Hesse. Italian Jesuit astronomer Giovanni Battista Riccioli (April 17, 1598-June 25, 1671) Latinized Göckel’s name as Goclenius in his encyclopedia astronomical reference work, Almagestum Novum (New Almagest), published in 1651. Riccioli biographized Göckel as “Medicinae Doctor in Academia Marpurgensi, edidit Anno 1615 Uraniam suam, cum geminis filiabus Astronomia & Astrologia” (page XLIV).

The International Astronomical Union approved Goclenius as the crater’s official name in 1935. Goclenius B and U received name approval in 2006.

IAU approval of Ibn Battuta in 1976 as the official name for Goclenius A reduced the crater’s parentage from three to two satellites. The newly named crater honors Moroccan explorer geographer Abu Abd Allah Mohammed Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Battuta (Feb. 25, 1304-ca. 1368/1369). Ibn Battuta is located to the northeast of its former parent.

The takeaways for Goclenius Crater’s parentage of two satellites in southwest Mare Fecunditatis are that Goclenius satellite B sits on its parent’s northwestern rim, Goclenius satellite U is distanced to the east of its parent and that Ibn Battuta, formerly designated as Goclenius satellite A, is located near U.

Apollo 14 mission’s view of Ibn Battuta Crater (upper left), formerly designated as Goclenius A: NASA ID AS14-73-10163; photo taken during lunar revolution 28; film magazine M: NASA Johnson Space Center Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA does not maintain a copyright, via Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth

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 Aeronautical Chart (LAC) 80 shows Ibn Battuta (center left, fifth square from bottom) above Goclenius U (fourth square from bottom); scale 1:1,000,000; Mercator Projection: United States Air Force (USAF) Aeronautical Chart and Information Center (ACIC) via USGS/Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/images/Lunar/lac_80_wac.pdf

Apollo 14 mission’s view of Ibn Battuta Crater (upper left), formerly designated as Goclenius A: NASA ID AS14-73-10163; photo taken during lunar revolution 28; film magazine M: NASA Johnson Space Center Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA does not maintain a copyright, via Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth @ https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/photo.pl?mission=AS14&roll=73&frame=10163;
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), No known copyright restrictions, via U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) @ https://nara.getarchive.net/media/as14-73-10163-apollo-14-apollo-14-mission-image-view-of-the-goclenius-a-crater-ab6a77

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