Earth and Space News: Near Side Wolf Crater Parents Nine Satellites in Mare Nubium

Summary: Wolf Crater parents nine satellites in Mare Nubium (Sea Clouds), a southwestern near side lunar mare that forms part of the Man in the Moon's mouth.

Detail of Lunar Aeronautical Chart (LAC) 94 shows the Wolf Crater system's parental crater and nine satellites in the near side's Mare Nubium (Sea of Clouds); scale 1:1,000,000; Mercator Projection: United States Air Force (USAF) Aeronautical Chart and Information Center (ACIC) via USGS/Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

The southwestern near side's Wolf Crater parents nine satellites in Mare Nubium (Sea of Clouds), a lunar mare that represents, with neighboring Mare Cognitum (Sea That Has Become Known), the pareidolic Man in the Moon's mouth.

Wolf Crater is centered at minus 22.79 degrees south latitude, minus 16.63 degrees west longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The parental crater's northernmost and southernmost latitudes register minus 22.36 degrees south and minus 23.21 degrees south, respectively. It records easternmost and westernmost longitudes of minus 16.17 degrees west and minus 17.09 degrees west, respectively. Wolf Crater's diameter measures 25.74 kilometers.

Wolf B and Wolf G are the only two of the Wolf Crater system's nine satellites that intrude across their parent's borders. The other seven Wolfs encircle their parent as external satellites.

The Moon-Wiki notes that the International Astronomical Union (IAU) interprets the widened gulf between Wolf Crater's eastern and western ridges as a superimposed satellite, designated as Wolf B in 2006. As such, Wolf B overlies its parent's southern rim.

Wolf B is centered at minus 23.18 degrees south latitude, minus 16.51 degrees west longitude. It obtains northernmost and southernmost latitudes at minus 22.94 degrees south and minus 23.43 degrees south, respectively. It finds easternmost and westernmost longitudes at minus 16.24 degrees west and minus 16.78 degrees west, respectively. Wolf B's diameter measures 15.11 kilometers.

Wolf G hides in the part of its parent's northern rim described as "the shadow-casting area" by the Moon-Wiki. Wolf G is centered at minus 22.6 degrees south latitude, minus 16.86 degrees west longitude. Its northernmost and southernmost latitudes occur minus 22.5 degrees south and minus 22.69 degrees south, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes occur at minus 16.75 degrees west and minus 16.96 degrees west, respectively. Wolf G has a diameter of 5.7 kilometers.

Two of the Wolf Crater system's seven external satellites associate with the terrain to the west of their parent. Wolf A is positioned to its parent's west-northwest. As the Wolf Crater system's most westerly satellite, Wolf T is sited to the west-southwest of its parent.

Wolf A is centered at minus 22.29 degrees south latitude, minus 18.49 degrees west longitude. It posts northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 22.2 degrees south and minus 22.39 degrees south, respectively. It marks its easternmost and westernmost longitudes at minus 18.39 degrees west and minus 18.59 degrees west, respectively. Wolf A has a diameter of 5.59 kilometers.

Wolf T is centered at minus 23.39 degrees south latitude, minus 18.9 degrees west longitude. Its northernmost and southernmost latitudes are found at minus 22.94 degrees south and minus 23.84 degrees south, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes are obtained at minus 18.42 degrees west and minus 19.39 degrees west, respectively. Measuring 27.1 kilometers, Wolf T's diameter exceeds its parent's 25.74-kilometer diameter by 1.36 kilometers. This distinction ranks satellite T's diameter as the second largest satellite diameter and as the second largest diameter overall in the Wolf Crater system.

Satellites C, F and H form a roughly north-to-south alignment to the east of their parent. Wolf H assumes the most northerly and westerly position of the trio. Wolf F anchors the approximate midpoint of their chain. Wolf C claims the chain's southern endpoint and also the Wolf Crater system's most southerly and most easterly point.

Wolf C is centered at minus 24.13 degrees south latitude, minus 14.55 degrees west longitude. Its northernmost and southernmost latitudes touch minus 24.08 degrees south and minus 24.17 degrees south, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes reach minus 14.5 degrees west and minus 14.6 degrees west, respectively. Wolf C has a diameter of 2.65 kilometers.

Wolf F is centered at minus 22.02 degrees south latitude, minus 14.96 degrees west longitude. It finds its northernmost and southernmost latitudes at minus 21.98 degrees south and minus 22.06 degrees south, respectively. It obtains easternmost and westernmost longitudes at minus 14.92 degrees west and minus 15 degrees west, respectively. Wolf F has a diameter of 2.34 kilometers.

Wolf H is centered at minus 23.01 degrees south latitude, minus 14.73 degrees west longitude. Its northernmost and southernmost latitudes occur at minus 22.88 degrees south and minus 23.14 degrees south, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes occur at minus 14.59 degrees west and minus 14.87 degrees west, respectively. Wolf H hgas a diameter of 7.75 kilometers.

Wolf E, described by The Moon-Wiki as "crisp," lies to the south-southeast of its parent. It is sited to the northwest of Wolf C. Wolf E is centered at minus 23.95 degrees south latitude, minus 16.39 degrees west longitude. It records northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 23.92 degrees south and minus 23.99 degrees south, respectively. It registers easternmost and westernmost longitudes at minus 16.35 degrees west and minus 16.43 degrees west, respectively. Wolf E's diameter of 2.31 kilometers qualifies it as the smallest of the Wolf Crater system's nine satellites.

Wolf S resides solitarily to the north of its parent. Its placement qualifies Wolf S as the Wolf Crater system's most northerly satellite.

Wolf S is centered at minus 21.09 degrees south latitude, minus 16.37 degrees west longitude. Its northernmost and southernmost latitudes stretch from minus 20.6 degrees south to minus 21.59 degrees south, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes span minus 15.95 degrees west to minus 16.78 degrees west, respectively. Wolf S's diameter of 29.84 kilometers qualifies it as the largest of the Wolf Crater system's nine satellites. Also, with a diameter that exceeds its parent's diameter of 25.74 kilometers by 4.10 kilometers, Wolf S rates as the Wolf Crater system's largest overall crater.

The Wolf Crater system occupies the south central Mare Nubium. The near side Southern Hemisphere lunar mare is centered at minus 20.59 degrees south latitude, minus 20.59 degrees west longitude. Its northernmost and southernmost latitudes reach minus 11.85 degrees south and minus 20.48 degrees south, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes extend to minus 5.45 degrees west and minus 29.27 degrees west, respectively. Mare Nubium spans 714.5 kilometers.

Mare Nubium cooperates with northwestern neighbor Mare Cognitum (The Sea That Has Become Known) in forming the mouth of the pareidolic (Greek: pará, παρά, "beside, alongside, instead [of]" and eídōlon, εἴδωλον, "image, form, shape") Man in the Moon for Earth's Northern Hemisphere moongazers.

Mare Cognitum is centered at minus 10.53 degrees south latitude, minus 22.31 degrees west longitude. The lunar mare's northernmost and southernmost latitudes stretch from minus 5.9 degrees south to minus 13.92 degrees south, respectively. The dark basaltic plain's easternmost and westernmost longitudes span minus 16.45 degrees west to minus 28.1 degrees west, respectively. Mare Cognitum has a diameter of 350.01 kilometers.

The takeaways for Wolf Crater's parentage of nine satellites in the near side Southern Hemisphere's Mare Nubium are that two of the Wolf Crater system's satellites (B, G) intrude across their parent's borders; that Wolf S qualifies as the Wolf Crater's most northerly component; that Wolf S's diameter bests its parent's diameter by 4.10 kilometers and establishes S as the Wolf Crater system's largest component; that Wolf E ranks as the Wolf Crater system's smallest satellite; and that the Wolf Crater system dots the terrain that Earth's Northern Hemisphere moongazers perceive as the mouth in the lunar pareidolic Man in the Moon.

Detail of Lunar Orbiter 4 photograph, taken May 1967, shows Wolf Crater system, with heart-shaped Wolf Crater, Wolf B and Wolf G (J-H 3-4.5), Wolf A (L2.5) and Wolf T (M-L 3-4.5), Wolf E (H5), Wolf C, F, H (F2.5-5.5), Wolf S (J-H 1-2); D. Bowker and K. Hughes, Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon (1971); sun angle 69.9, spacecraft altitude 2717.50 kilometers; 1967 Lunar Orbiter IV photograph IV-120-H1 Plate 294: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Public Domain, via NASA NTRS (NASA Technical Reports Server)

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

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Earth and Space News

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Near Side Wolf Crater Parents Nine Satellites in Mare Nubium

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