Earth and Space News: German British astronomer William Herschel namesake lunar crater

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Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Herschel Crater Hosts Eight Satellites in South Central Lunar Near Side

Summary: Herschel Crater hosts eight satellites in the south central lunar near side, south-southwest of Sinus Medii, the point where Earth appears overhead.

Detail shows Herschel Crater system in south central lunar near side; U.S. Air Force Lunar Chart Ptolemaeus LAC 77, 1st edition May 1963; published by U.S. Air Force Aeronautical Chart and Information Center for U.S. Air Force and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA): Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Herschel Crater hosts eight satellites in the south central lunar near side, south-southwest of Sinus Medii (Bay of the Center), the small lunar mare that marks the intersection of the moon’s equator and prime meridian.

Herschel Crater is located in the lunar highlands that form Sinus Medii’s southern border. The highlands, known as terrae (singular: terra), roughen the landscape between Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility) and Mare Nectaris (Sea of Nectar) to the east and Mare Cognitum (Sea That Has Become Known) and Mare Nubium (Sea of Clouds) to the west.

The small lunar impact crater has a center latitude of minus 5.69 degrees south and a center longitude of minus 2.09 degrees west, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Herschel Crater’s northernmost and southernmost latitudes extend to minus 5.04 degrees south and minus 6.33 degrees south, respectively. The well-defined crater’s easternmost and westernmost longitudes stretch to minus 1.33 degrees west and minus 2.73 degrees west, respectively. Herschel Crater’s diameter spans 39.09 kilometers.

The bright, terraced crater parents eight satellite craters. The parent’s west side claims seven satellites. One is located on Herschel’s east side.

Herschel N lies to the northeast of its parent. It is centered at minus 5.22 degrees south latitude and minus 1.09 degrees west longitude. N’s northernmost and southernmost latitudes reach minus 4.98 degrees south and minus 5.46 degrees south, respectively. Easternmost and westernmost longitudes occur at minus 0.85 degrees west and minus 1.33 degrees west, respectively. N has a diameter of 14.41 kilometers.

Herschel C is the northernmost of its parent’s eight satellites. Positioned to the west-northwest, C is centered at minus 5.01 degrees south latitude and minus 3.18 degrees west longitude. It marks northernmost and southernmost latitudes at minus 4.85 degrees south and minus 5.17 degrees south, respectively. Easternmost and westernmost longitudes are registered at minus 3.02 degrees west and minus 3.35 degrees west, respectively. C has a diameter of 9.89 kilometers.

Herschel D lies to the west-northwest of its parent and to the southwest of satellite C. It is centered at minus 5.32 degrees south latitude and minus 3.99 degrees west longitude. C obtains northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 5 degrees south and minus 5.64 degrees south, respectively. It registers easternmost and westernmost longitudes at minus 3.67 degrees west and minus 4.31 degrees west, respectively. With a diameter of 19.24 kilometers, D is the largest of its parent’s eight satellites.

Herschel X nestles against its parent’s northwestern wall. It is positioned southeast of C and east of D. Herschel X is centered at minus 5.36 degrees south latitude and minus 2.72 degrees west longitude. Its northernmost and southernmost latitudes are trimmed at minus 5.32 degrees south and minus 5.41 degrees south, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes slim to minus 2.67 degrees west and minus 2.76 degrees west, respectively. With a petite diameter of 2.72 kilometers, X is the smallest of its parent’s eight satellites.

Herschel F lies to the west of its parent. As the westernmost of Herschel Crater’s eight satellites, F is centered at minus 5.79 degrees south latitude and minus 4.39 degrees west longitude. It claims meager northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 5.69 degrees south and minus 5.89 degrees south, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes are trimmed at minus 4.39 degrees west and minus 4.48 degrees west, respectively. F has a diameter of 5.84 kilometers.

Herschel J is positioned west-southwest of its parent and slightly southeast of Herschel F. It is centered at minus 6.42 degrees south latitude and minus 4.28 degrees west longitude. Its northernmost and southernmost latitudes occur at minus 6.34 degrees south and minus 6.5 degrees south. It obtains easternmost and westernmost longitudes at minus 4.2 degrees west and minus 4.36 degrees west, respectively. J has a diameter of 4.85 kilometers.

Herschel H lies west-southwest of its parent and slightly northeast of Herschel J. It is centered at minus 6.31 degrees south latitude and minus 3.45 degrees west longitude. Its northernmost and southernmost latitudes only reach to minus 6.23 degrees south and minus 6.38 degrees south, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes occur at minus 3.37 degrees west and minus 3.53 degrees west, respectively. H has a diameter of 4.7 kilometers.

Herschel G is attached to its parent’s south-southwest rim. The satellite separates its parent from “. . . the rocky margin of Ptolemaeus . . .” (page 92), as described by Victorian British selenographer Thomas Gwyn Empy Elger (Oct. 27, 1836-Jan. 9, 1897) in his 1895 lunar survey, The Moon: A Full Description and Map of Its Principal Physical Features. Large Ptolemaeus Crater, with a diameter of 153.67 kilometers, flares near Hershel G’s south-southeastern rim.

Herschel G is centered at minus 6.5 degrees south latitude and minus 2.41 degrees west longitude. It registers northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 6.3 degrees south and minus 6.7 degrees south, respectively. It obtains easternmost and westernmost longitudes of minus 2.2 degrees west and minus 2.61 degrees west. G’s diameter measures 12.25 kilometers.

The lunar Herschel Crater system honors German-British astronomer William Herschel (Nov. 15, 1738-Aug. 25, 1822). The IAU approved the parent crater’s name in 1935, during the organization’s Vth (5th) General Assembly, held Wednesday, July 10, to Wednesday, July 17, in Paris, France. The system’s eight satellite designations were adopted in 2006, during the IAU’s XXVIth (26th) General Assembly, held Monday, Aug. 14, to Friday, Aug. 25, in Prague, Czech Republic.

The takeaways for Herschel Crater’s parentage of eight satellites in the south central lunar near side are that seven of the satellites cluster on their parent’s west side, one lone satellite lies to its parent’s east and the largest and smallest satellites, Herschel D and Herschel X, have respective diameters of 19.24 and 2.72 diameters.

Detail shows south central lunar near side Herschel Crater system; principal and seven of Herschel’s eight satellites are depicted; satellite Herschel X, on parent’s northwestern rim, is not identified; LAC (Lunar Aeronautical Chart) 77: NASA / GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center) / ASU (Arizona State University), Public Domain, via U.S. Geological Survey / 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:

Capelotti, P.J. (Peter Joseph). “12) Surveyor 2: Archaeology.” The Human Archaeology of Space: Lunar, Planetary and Interstellar Relics of Exploration: 55. Jefferson NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2010.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books?id=98qFL5AYIjQC&pg=PA55

Consolmagno, Guy; and Dan M. Davis. Turn Left at Orion. Fourth edition. Cambridge UK; New York NY: Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Elger, Thomas Gwyn. “Herschel.” The Moon: A Full Description and Map of Its Principal Physical Features: 92-93. London UK: George Philip & Son, 1895.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/moonfulldescript00elgerich/page/92

International Astronomical Union. “Herschel.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Nov. 17, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/2477

International Astronomical Union. “Herschel C.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/9930

International Astronomical Union. “Herschel D.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/9931

International Astronomical Union. “Herschel F.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/9932

International Astronomical Union. “Herschel G.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/9933

International Astronomical Union. “Herschel H.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/9934

International Astronomical Union. “Herschel J.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/9935

International Astronomical Union. “Herschel N.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/9936

International Astronomical Union. “Herschel X.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/9937

International Astronomical Union. “Mare Cognitum.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3670

International Astronomical Union. “Mare Nectaris.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3683

International Astronomical Union. “Mare Nubium.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3684

International Astronomical Union. “Mare Tranquillitatis.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3691

International Astronomical Union. “Ptolemaeus.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/4860

International Astronomical Union. “Sinus Medii.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/5567

Levy, David H. Skywatching. Revised and updated. San Francisco CA: Fog City Press, 1994.

Marriner, Derdriu. "Lunar Crater Herschel Honors German-British Astronomer William Herschel." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/08/lunar-crater-herschel-honors-german.html

The Moon Wiki. “Herschel.” The Moon > Lunar Features Alphabetically > H Nomenclature > Lohrmann -- Herschel.
Available @ https://the-moon.us/wiki/Herschel

Moore, Patrick, Sir. Philip’s Atlas of the Universe. Revised edition. London UK: Philip’s, 2005.

NASA/GSFC/ASU. “LAC 77.” Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Feature > Herschel.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/images/Lunar/lac_77_wac.pdf

Nielsen, Victor. “The Lick Lunar Photographs.” The Observatory: A Monthly Review of Astronomy, vol. XVI, no. 206 (October 1893): 349-352.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books?id=Aa8RAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA350

The Royal Society. “William Herschel.” The Royal Society > Science in the Making.
Available @ https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/s/rs/people/fst01800987

Schmidt, Dr. J.F. Julius. Charte der Gebirge des Mondes Nach Eigenen Beobachtungen in den Jahren 1840-1874. Erläuterungsband. Berlin, Germany: Dietrich Reimer, 1878.

Stratton, F.J.M. (Frederick John Marrian), ed. Vth General Assembly Transactions of the IAU Vol. V Proceedings of the 5th General Assembly Paris, France, July 10-17, 1935. Cambridge University Press, Jan. 1, 1936.
Available @ https://www.iau.org/publications/iau/transactions_b/

U.S. Geological Survey. Color-Coded Topography and Shaded Relief Map of the Lunar Near Side and Far Side Hemispheres. U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Investigations Series I-2769. Page last modified Nov. 30, 2016. Flagstaff AZ: U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center, 2003.
Available via USGS Publications Warehouse @ https://pubs.usgs.gov/imap/i2769/

van der Hucht, Karel A., ed. IAU Transactions: XXVI B Proceedings of the XXVIth General Assembly Prague, Czech Republic, August 14-25, 2006. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press, Dec. 30, 2008.
Available @ https://www.iau.org/publications/iau/transactions_b/

Wilhelms, Don. The Geologic History of the Moon. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1348.
Available via Arizona State University Space Exploration Resources (SER) @ http://ser.sese.asu.edu/GHM/

Wlasuk, Peter T. “Herschel.” Observing the Moon: 96. Patrick Moore’s Practical Astronomy Series. London UK: Springer-Verlag, 2000.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books?id=kxnnBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT103

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Lunar Crater Herschel Honors German-British Astronomer William Herschel

Summary: Lunar Crater Herschel honors German-British astronomer William Herschel, who discovered the planet Uranus on March 13, 1781.

Lunar Crater Herschel honors German-British astronomer William Herschel, whose astronomical accomplishments included his March 13, 1781, discovery of the planet Uranus.

Herschel Crater occupies the central region of the lunar near side’s southern and western hemispheres. The small, well-defined crater lies in the lunar highlands to the south-southwest of Sinus Medii (Bay of the Center), the small lunar mare named for its location at the intersection of the lunar equator and prime meridian. Sinus Medii has a center latitude of 1.63 degrees north and a center longitude of 1.03 degrees east longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Herschel Crater is sited to the southeast of Mare Insularum and to the northeast of Mare Cognitum (Sea That Has Become Known) and Mare Nubium (Sea of Clouds). Mare Cognitum registers a center latitude of minus 10.53 degrees south and a center longitude of minus 22.31 degrees west. Mare Nubium has a center latitude of minus 20.59 degrees south and a center longitude of minus 17.29 degrees west.

British Victorian selenographer Thomas Gwyn Empy Elger (Oct. 27, 1836-Jan. 9, 1897) described Herschel Crater as having “. . . a lofty wall rising nearly 10,000 feet above a somewhat dusky floor, which includes a prominent central mountain” (page 92) in his descriptive lunar survey, The Moon: A Full Description and Map of Its Principal Physical Features, published in 1895. The central rise offsets the crater midpoint to the west.

The central rise actually comprises a complex of peaks, according to Peter T. Wlasuk, Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (FRAS) and member of the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Sciences (AAS DPS) and of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), in his lunar guide, Observing the Moon, published in 2000. Wlasuk placed the complex at up to four peaks, with at least one possessing a central craterlet. He identified German selenographer Johann Friedrich Julius Schmidt (Oct. 25, 1925-Feb. 7, 1884) as the discoverer of this feature (page 96).

Elger considered the well-defined lunar impact crater’s border: “Its bright border is clearly terraced both within and without . . .” (page 92). He observed the crater’s eastern wall’s inner slope terraces as “. . . being beautifully distinct even under a high light, and on the outer slope are some curious irregular depressions.”

The moon’s Herschel Crater is centered at minus 5.69 degrees south latitude and minus 2.09 degrees west longitude. The near side southern hemisphere crater obtains northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 5.04 degrees south and minus 6.33 degrees south, respectively. The near side western hemisphere crater’s easternmost and westernmost longitudes extend to minus 1.33 degrees west and minus 2.73 degrees west, respectively. Herschel Crater’s diameter measures 39.09 kilometers.

Elger situated the “typical ring-plain . . . just outside the N. border of Ptolemaeus . . .” Perched at Herschel Crater’s south-southeastern border, Herschel satellite G intervenes between its parent and Ptolemaeus. Ptolemaeus registers its center latitude at minus 9.16 degrees south and its center longitude at minus 1.84 degrees east.

Herschel Crater’s namesake is German-British astronomer William Herschel (Nov. 15, 1738-Aug. 25, 1822). The IAU approved the crater’s name in 1935, during the organization’s Vth (5th) General Assembly, held Wednesday, July 10, to Wednesday, July 17, in Paris, France.

William Herschel was born as Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel in the Electorate of Hanover’s capital of Hannover in the Holy Roman Empire (modern-day Lower Saxony state, northwestern Germany). He was one of 10 children born to Hanoverian Guard bandmaster and oboist Isaac Herschel (Jan. 14, 1707-March 22, 1767) and his wife, Anna Ilse Moritzen Herschel (1710 or 1713-Nov. 19, 1789). Two brothers and two sisters did not survive childhood.

In 1757, Friedrich Wilhelm relocated to England, where his name was anglicized as Frederick William. In England, he continued his musical interests in composition and performance. He also pursued new interests in astronomy and telescope design and construction. On March 13, 1781, William Herschel’s fame was assured with his discovery of the planet Uranus as a new object in Gemini the Twins constellation. His astronomical accomplishments also include discovering 2,500 nebulae, over 800 double or multiple star systems, two Saturnian moons (Enceladus, Mimas), two Uranian moons (Oberon, Titania) and infrared radiation.

The takeaways for lunar Crater Herschel, which honors German-British astronomer William Herschel, are that the lunar impact crater occupies a central location, in the vicinity of the intersection of the lunar equator and prime meridian at Sinus Medii (Bay of the Center), on the lunar near side, and that its namesake’s astronomical accomplishments included designing and constructing telescopes and discovering the planet Uranus, double and multiple star systems, four planetary moons (Saturn’s Enceladus and Mimas; Uranus’ Oberon and Titania) and infrared radiation.

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Low oblique, southeast-looking view, taken Nov. 19, 1969, with Hasselblad camera by Apollo 12 spacecraft, shows near side’s southwestern lunar highlands, with Herschel Crater (center) and large Ptolemaeus Crater to the north (right) and Flammarion Crater to the southwest (left); NASA ID AS12-50-7431; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA): Project Apollo Archive (Apollo Image Gallery), Public Domain, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21676573116/;
Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AS12-50-7431_(21676573116).jpg;
No known copyright restrictions, via NARA (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration) & DVIDS (Defense Visual Information Distribution Service) Public Domain Archive @ https://nara.getarchive.net/media/as12-50-7431-apollo-12-apollo-12-mission-image-view-of-crater-herschel-9f50c4;
Generally not subject to copyright in the United States; may use this material for educational or informational purposes, including photo collections, textbooks, public exhibits, computer graphical simulations and Internet Web pages; general permission extends to personal Web pages, via NASA Image and Video Library @ https://images.nasa.gov/details-as12-50-07431;
No copyright asserted, via NASA History Apollo Flight Journal -- Apollo 12 @ https://www.nasa.gov/history/afj/ap12fj/photos/50-q.html (gallery index URL); No copyright asserted, via NASA History Apollo Flight Journal -- Apollo 12 @ https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/apollo/images/print/AS12/50/7431.jpg (image URL);
NASA Johnson (NASA Johnson), CC BY NC 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2explore/9605539393;

Apollo 12 photo taken Nov. 19, 1969, by Command Module Yankee Clipper Pilot (CMP) Richard R. Gordon Jr. shows Ptolemaeus Crater (foreground) and Herschel Crater (center right), with Lunar Module (LM) Intrepid (background) in lunar landing configuration; NASA ID AS12-51-7507; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA): Project Apollo Archive (Apollo Image Gallery), Public Domain, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21515062310;
No known copyright restrictions, via NARA (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration) & DVIDS (Defense Visual Information Distribution Service) Public Domain Archive @ https://nara.getarchive.net/media/as12-51-7507-apollo-12-apollo-12-mission-image-view-of-lm-craters-ptolemaeus-796d2c;
Generally not subject to copyright in the United States; may use this material for educational or informational purposes, including photo collections, textbooks, public exhibits, computer graphical simulations and Internet Web pages; general permission extends to personal Web pages, via NASA Image and Video Library @ https://images.nasa.gov/details-as12-51-7507

For further information:

Consolmagno, Guy; and Dan M. Davis. Turn Left at Orion. Fourth edition. Cambridge UK; New York NY: Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Levy, David H. Skywatching. Revised and updated. San Francisco CA: Fog City Press, 1994.

Marriner, Derdriu. "Stickney Crater Honors Phobos Discoverer Asaph Hall’s First Wife." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, July 3, 2013.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/07/stickney-crater-honors-phobos.html

The Moon Wiki. “Herschel.” The Moon > Lunar Features Alphabetically > H Nomenclature > Lohrmann -- Herschel.
Available @ https://the-moon.us/wiki/Herschel

Moore, Patrick, Sir. Philip’s Atlas of the Universe. Revised edition. London UK: Philip’s, 2005.

NASA/GSFC/ASU. “LAC 77.” Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Feature > Herschel.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/images/Lunar/lac_77_wac.pdf

The Royal Society. “William Herschel.” The Royal Society > Science in the Making.
Available @ https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/s/rs/people/fst01800987

Schmidt, Dr. J.F. Julius. Charte der Gebirge des Mondes Nach Eigenen Beobachtungen in den Jahren 1840-1874. Erläuterungsband. Berlin, Germany: Dietrich Reimer, 1878.