Earth and Space News: Mare Australe lunar craters

Showing posts with label Mare Australe lunar craters. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Lamb Crater Parents Three Satellites in Southern Mare Australe

Summary: Lamb Crater parents three satellites in southern Mare Australe (Southern Sea) as a crater system on the lunar far side.

Detail of Lunar Astronautical Charts (LAC) 116 shows Lamb Crater with Lamb A and Lamb G, two of its three satellites, in Mare Australe on the lunar far side; courtesy NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) / GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center) / ASU (Arizona State University): U.S. Geological Survey, Public Domain, via USGS Astrogeology Science Center / Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

Lamb Crater parents three satellites in southern Mare Australe (Southern Sea) as a crater system occupying the lunar far side, just beyond the near side’s southeastern limb.

The Lamb Crater system’s primary crater is centered at minus 42.67 degrees south latitude, 100.94 degrees east longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Lamb Crater’s northernmost and southernmost latitudes reach minus 41.07 degrees south and minus 44.32 degrees south, respectively. The southern hemisphere crater’s easternmost and westernmost longitudes extend to 103.27 degrees east and 98.62 degrees east, respectively. Lamb Crater’s diameter spans 103.55 kilometers.

Lamb Crater parents three satellites in the lunar eastern hemisphere’s Mare Australe. The Southern Sea stretches across the near side’s southeastern limb to occupy the far side’s portion of the lunar eastern hemisphere. The Lamb Crater system’s three satellites are located to the east of their parent.

Lamb A lies to the north of its parent. Satellite A’s placement qualifies it as the most northerly of the Lamb Crater system’s three satellites.

Lamb A is centered at minus 39.87 degrees south latitude, 101.55 degrees east longitude. It confines its northernmost and southernmost latitudes to minus 39.6 degrees south and minus 40.14 degrees south, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes linger at 101.9 degrees east and 101.19 degrees east, respectively. Lamb A’s diameter measures 16.45 kilometers.

Lamb E resides to the east-northeast of its parent. Satellite E lies to the southeast of Lamb A and to the northeast of Lamb G. Lamb E’s placement qualifies it as the most easterly of the Lamb Crater system’s three satellites.

Lamb E is centered at minus 41.55 degrees south latitude, 107.05 degrees east longitude. It obtains northernmost and southernmost latitudes at minus 41.36 degrees south and minus 41.74 degrees south, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes occur at 107.3 degrees east and 106.8 degrees east, respectively. Lamb E has a diameter of 11.31 kilometers.

Lamb E’s diameter qualifies it as the smallest of the Lamb Crater system’s three satellites. Satellite E’s diameter of 11.31 kilometers approximates 10.93 percent of its parent’s diameter of 103.55 kilometers.

Lamb G is sited to the east of its parent. Its location lies to the south-southwest of Lamb E. Satellite G’s placement qualifies it as the most southerly of the Lamb Crater system’s three satellites.

Lamb G is centered at minus 43.06 degrees south, 105.7 degrees east longitude. It posts northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 41.94 degrees south and minus 44.19 degrees south, respectively. It marks easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 107.24 degrees east and 104.17 degrees east, respectively. Lamb G’s diameter spans 68.03 kilometers.

Lamb G’s diameter qualifies it as the largest of the Lamb Crater system’s three satellites. Lamb G’s diameter of 68.03 kilometers approximates 65.7 percent of its parent’s diameter of 103.55 kilometers.

Lamb A claims Gernsback H and Gernsback J as its nearest named northern neighbors. Gernsback H and Gernsback J lie to the northeast and north-northeast, respectively, of Lamb A.

Gernsback H is centered at minus 38.41 degrees south latitude, 103.17 degrees east longitude. Its northernmost and southernmost latitudes are found at minus 37.61 degrees south and minus 39.21 degrees south, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes are obtained at 104.2 degrees east and 102.14 degrees east, respectively. Gernsback H’s diameter measures 48.69 kilometers.

Gernsback J is centered at minus 37.81 degrees south latitude, 101.79 degrees east longitude. It finds northernmost and southernmost latitudes at minus 37.5 degrees south and minus 38.12 degrees south, respectively. It obtains easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 102.18 degrees east and 101.39 degrees east, respectively. Gernsback J has a diameter of 18.74 kilometers.

The takeaways for Lamb Crater’s parentage of three satellites in southern Mare Australe are that the Lamb Crater system’s three satellites are associated with their parent’s eastern half; that one satellite, Lamb A, lies to the east-northeast of its parent; and that the Lamb Crater system’s other two satellites, Lamb E and Lamb G, reside as eastern satellites to the northeast and east, respectively, of their parent.

Detail of Lunar Astronautical Charts (LAC) 1172 shows Lamb Crater with Lamb E and Lamb G, two of the Lamb Crater system’s three satellites: courtesy NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) / GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center) / ASU (Arizona State University): 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:

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

Grego, Peter. The Moon and How to Observe It. Astronomers’ Observing Guides. London UK: Springer-Verlag, 2005.

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Gernsback H.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/9475

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Gernsback J.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/9476

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Jenner.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/2819

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Lamb.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3252

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Lamb A.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/10571

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Lamb E.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/10572

> Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/10573

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Mare Australe.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3665

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Pogson.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/4774

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Target: The Moon.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/MOON/target

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

Marriner, Derdriu. “Lamb Crater Honors British Mathematician and Physicist Sir Horace Lamb.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2013.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/12/lamb-crater-honors-british.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Pogson Crater Honors British Astronomer Norman Robert Pogson.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, June 20, 2012.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/06/pogson-crater-honors-british-astronomer.html

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

The Moon Wiki. “IAU Directions.” The Moon.
Available @ https://the-moon.us/wiki/IAU_directions

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

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

The Moon Wiki. “Mare Australe.” The Moon > Lunar Features Alphabetically > A Nomenclature.
Available @ https://the-moon.us/wiki/Mare_Australe

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

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

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Lamb Crater Honors British Mathematician and Physicist Sir Horace Lamb

Summary: Lamb Crater honors British mathematician and physicist Sir Horace Lamb, whose achievements include creating the physics term vorticity in 1916.

Detail of oblique view, obtained 1971, just after trans-Earth injection (TEI), with Apollo 15 mapping camera, shows Lamb Crater (upper right) with satellites Lamb A (lower right of parent), Lamb G (lower left of parent) and Lamb E (below Lamb G); NASA ID AS15-M-2753: James Stuby (Jstuby), Public Domain (CC0 1.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Lamb Crater honors British mathematician and physicist Sir Horace Lamb, whose writings include classic physics textbooks and who introduced the physics term vorticity in 1916 in his reference work on fluid dynamics, Hydrodynamics.

Lamb Crater is a lunar crater in the far side’s southwestern quadrant. The crater’s generally circular rim encloses an interior floor flooded by basaltic lava. Craterlets dot the floor. A small crater occupies the south-southeastern floor.

Lamb Crater is centered at minus 42.67 degrees south latitude, 100.94 degrees east longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The southern hemisphere crater records northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 41.07 degrees south and minus 44.32 degrees south, respectively. It registers easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 103.27 degrees east and 98.62 degrees east, respectively. Lamb Crater’s diameter measures 103.55 kilometers.

Lamb Crater parents three satellites. All three satellites round their parent’s eastern half.

The Lamb Crater system resides in southern Mare Australe (Southern Sea) beyond the near side’s southeastern limb. The Southern Sea overlaps the moon’s near and far sides.

Mare Australe is centered at minus 47.77 degrees south latitude, 91.99 degrees east longitude. The dark, basaltic plain’s northernmost and southernmost latitudes extend from minus 31.84 degrees south to minus 64.2 degrees south, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes reach 113.36 degrees east and 70.43 degrees east, respectively. Mare Australe’s length spans 996.84 kilometers.

Jenner Crater resides near Lamb’s western rim. Jenner’s placement to the west of Lamb and just east of the near side’s southeastern limb qualifies it for visibility to Earth-based observers under favorable libration and lighting conditions. Libration references the expanded surface visibility, extending into the far side, that accompanies changes in the perspectives of Earth-based observers.

Jenner Crater is centered at minus 42.01 degrees south latitude, 95.98 degrees east longitude. The terraced crater obtains northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 40.8 degrees south and minus 43.22 degrees south, respectively. Its easternmost and westernmost longitudes occur at 97.62 degrees east and 94.35 degrees east, respectively. Jenner Crater has a diameter of 73.66 kilometers.

Lamb Crater honors British mathematician and physicist Sir Horace Lamb (Nov. 27, 1849-Dec. 4, 1934). The International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved Lamb as the crater’s official name in 1970, during the organization’s XIVth (14th) General Assembly, held in Brighton, United Kingdom, from Tuesday, Aug. 18, to Thursday, Aug. 27. Prior to its official naming, Lamb Crater was designated as Crater 404. The IAU approved the letter designations of the Lamb Crater system’s three satellites in 2006.

Lamb published A Treatise on the Mathematical Theory of the Motions of Fluids in 1879. In his preface, he traced the origin of the work to 1874. During lectures that he delivered in Cambridge University’s Trinity College, he realized the need for a systematic consideration of the current state of fluid motion theory.

The reference work’s title change to Hydrodynamics, beginning with the second edition in 1895, reflected extensive “additions and alterations” in the subject. As a subdiscipline of fluid dynamics, hydrodynamics (Ancient Greek: ὑδρο-, hudro-, from ὕδωρ, húdōr, “water” + δυναμικός, dunamikós, “powerful”) focuses on the motion of liquids.

The fourth edition of Hydrodyanmics appeared in 1916. In his preface, Lamb highlighted his introduction of a new term, vorticity, as a replacement for rotation, to distinguish the vector (ξ, η, ζ [xi, eta, zeta]) from components with half of the velocity values.

The Cambridge University Press website offers the sixth edition of Hydrodynamics, published in November 1993. The website describes Hydrodynamics as a “definitive reference work” and as a “relevant, timeless classic.”

Lamb was elected as a Fellow of The Royal Society (FRAS) on Dec. 6, 1884. The Royal Society website lists Lamb’s research fields as “applied mathematics, geophysics.”

Horace Lamb became Sir Horace Lamb with his knighting in 1931.

The takeaways for Lamb Crater, which honors British mathematician and physicist Sir Horace Lamb, are that the lunar crater resides on the far side, just beyond the near side’s southeastern limb; that Lamb Crater parents three satellites in southern Mare Australe (Southern Sea); and that the crater’s namesake introduced a new term, vorticity, in the fourth edition of his still-in-print, definitive work, Hydrodynamics, published in 1916.

Detail of Shaded Relief and Color-Coded Topography Map shows Lamb Crater, with neighbor Jenner Crater, in lunar far side's southern Mare Australe, just beyond near side's southeastern 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:

Andersson, Leif E.; and Ewen A. Whitaker. NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA Reference Publication 1097. Washington DC: NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical Information Branch, October 1982.
Available via NASA NTRS (NASA Technical Reports Server) @ https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19830003761.pdf

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

de Jager, C. (Cornelis); and A. (Arnost) Jappel, eds. XIVth General Assembly Transactions of the IAU Vol. XIV B Proceedings of the 14th General Assembly Brighton, United Kingdom, August 18-27, 1970. Washington DC: Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Jan. 1, 1971.
Available @ https://www.iau.org/publications/iau/transactions_b/

Dunbar, Brian, page ed. “Moon.” Internet Archive Wayback Machine > World Book at NASA.
Available @ https://web.archive.org/web/20130703162844/http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/moon_worldbook.html

Grego, Peter. The Moon and How to Observe It. Astronomers’ Observing Guides. London UK: Springer-Verlag, 2005.

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Lamb G.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/10573

Lamb, Horace. The Dynamical Theory of Sound. London [England]: Edward Arnold, 1910.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/dynamicaltheoryo00lambrich/

Lamb, Horace. Hydrodynamics. Second edition. Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press, 1895.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/hydrodynamics00horarich/

Lamb, Horace. Hydrodynamics. Fourth edition. Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press, 1916.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/hydrodynamics02lambgoog/

Lamb, Horace. A Treatise on the Mathematical Theory of the Motion of Fluids. First edition. Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press, 1879.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/maththeorfluid00lambrich/

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

Love, Augustus Edward Hough; and Richard Tetley Glazebrook. “Sir Horace Lamb, 1849-1934.” Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 1932-1935, vol. 1 issue 4: 375-392.
Available via The Royal Society Publishing @ https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbm.1935.0003

Marriner, Derdriu. “Maxwell Crater Honors Scottish Mathematical Physicist James Maxwell.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, June 13, 2012.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/06/maxwell-crater-honors-scottish.html

The Moon Wiki. “IAU Directions.” The Moon.
Available @ https://the-moon.us/wiki/IAU_directions

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

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

The Moon Wiki. “Mare Australe.” The Moon > Lunar Features Alphabetically > A Nomenclature.
Available @ https://the-moon.us/wiki/Mare_Australe

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

National Aeronautics and Space Administration; and Department of Defense Aeronautical Chart and Information Center. Lunar Farside Chart LFC-1. Second edition. October 1967.
Available @ https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog/LunarFarsideCharts/LFC-1%201stEd/LFC-1%202ndEd/LFC-1A/

The Royal Society. “Lamb; Sir; Horace (1849-1934).” The Royal Society > Fellows.
Available @ https://collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=6&dsqSearch=%28%28text%29%3D%27lamb%27%29

van der Hucht, Karel A., ed. XXVIth General Assembly Transactions of the IAU Vol. XVII B Proceedings of the 26th 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 E.; John F. McCauley; and Newell J. Trask. The Geologic History of the Moon. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1348. Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1987.
Available via USGS Publications Warehouse @ https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp1348

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Gill Crater Honors British Astronomer Sir David Gill

Summary: Gill Crater honors British astronomer Sir David Gill, who was a pioneer in using astrophotography to determine star brightness and positions.

Detail of southwest-facing view, obtained in 1971 by Apollo 15 mission’s Hasselblad camera, shows lunar near side’s Gill Crater system; NASA ID AS15-96-13093: James Stuby (Jstuby), Public Domain (CC0 1.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Gill Crater honors British astronomer Sir David Gill, who explored his interest in astronomical distance and stellar brightness via mastery of the heliometer and pioneering use of astrophotography.

Gill Crater is a south polar-latitude impact crater that lies near the lunar near side’s southeastern limb. Impacts have pummeled the eroded crater’s rim. Craterlets gouge the old crater’s relatively level interior floor.

Gill Crater is centered at minus 63.77 degrees south latitude, 75.95 degrees east longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The southern hemisphere crater finds its northernmost and southernmost latitudes at minus 62.71 degrees south and minus 64.82 degrees south, respectively. The eastern hemisphere crater posts easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 78.33 degrees east and 73.56 degrees east, respectively. Gill Crater’s diameter measures 63.9 kilometers.

Gill Crater parents eight satellites in the south polar latitudes on the lunar near side. One satellite, Gill D, resides to the east of its parent. Seven of the Gill Crater system’s eight satellites associate with their parent’s western side.

Gill Crater lies to the southwest of Mare Australe (Southern Sea). The middle- to polar-latitude lunar mare (Latin: mare, “sea”) wraps around the lunar near side’s southeastern limb in its occupancy of far side and near side portions of the moon’s eastern and southern hemispheres.

Mare Australe is centered at minus 47.77 degrees south latitude, 91.99 degrees east longitude. The southern hemisphere lunar mare records northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 31.84 degrees south and minus 64.2 degrees south, respectively. The eastern hemisphere lunar mare registers easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 113.36 degrees east and 70.43 degrees east, respectively. Mare Australe has a length of 996.84 kilometers.

Gill Crater honors British astronomer Sir David Gill (June 12, 1843-Jan. 24, 1914). The International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved Gill as the crater’s official name in 1964, during the organization’s XIIth (12th) General Assembly, held in Hamburg, Germany, from Tuesday, Aug. 25, to Thursday, Sept. 3. The letter designations for the Gill Crater system’s eight satellites received approval in 2006.

Gill’s obituary in the Feb. 12, 1915, issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society acknowledged his “. . . incalculable influence . . .” on “. . . precision of observation” (page 237). In 1863, Gill’s collaboration with Scottish physicist David Thomson (Nov. 27, 1817-Jan. 31, 1880) in reviving King’s College’s Cromwell Tower Observatory inspired Gill’s interest in observational astronomy.

From 1872 to 1876, Gill directed the equipping of Dun Echt Observatory in northeastern Aberdeenshire, northeastern Scotland. The private observatory was founded by James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford and 9th Earl of Balcarres (July 28, 1847-Jan. 31, 1913).

A 4-inch (10-centimeter) heliometer numbered among the fine instruments designed under Gill’s supervision for Dun Echt Observatory. Gill acquired mastery of the heliometer in preparation for Lord Crawford’s private expedition to observe the Dec. 9, 1874, transit of Venus from the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius (French: République de Maurice). Heliometers originally were designed for measurements of seasonal variations in the sun’s diameter. The accuracy of heliometers expanded their usage to the measurement of angular distances between stars and other celestial bodies.

In 1879, Gill was appointed as successor to English astronomer Edward James Stone (Feb. 28, 1831-May 6, 1897) as Her Majesty’s Astronomer at the Cape of Good Hope. He began his duties at the Royal Observatory on South Africa’s Cape Peninsula on May 29, 1879. Gill sailed from the Cape on Oct. 3, 1906. His formal retirement, after 27 years eight-plus months of service, took place Feb. 20, 1907.

Gill’s scrutiny of his photographs of the Great Comet of 1882 (formally designated C/1882 R1, 1882 II, 1882b) revealed to him the value of astrophotography in determining the brightness and positions of stars. Between 1885 and 1890 the Royal Observatory at the Cape of Good Hope conducted an extensive photographic survey of Southern Hemisphere stars ranged between minus 18 degrees south declination and the south celestial pole (minus 90 degrees south declination). Dutch astronomer Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn (Jan. 19, 1851-June 18, 1922) analyzed Gill’s glass plate photographs with a measuring instrument of his own design known as the parallactic instrument of Kapteyn. The Gill-Kapteyn collaboration yielded the Cape Photographic Durchmusterung (CPD), a star catalog of magnitudes and positions for 454,875 southern sky stars published in three volumes from 1895 to 1900.

The takeaways for Gill Crater, which honors British astronomer Sir David Gill, are that the eroded lunar impact crater lies southwest of Mare Australe (Southern Sea) near the near side’s southeastern limb; that the south polar region crater parents eight satellites; that the crater’s namesake is credited with pioneering astrophotography as an effective resource for measuring stellar brightness and positions; and that Sir David Gill’s photographs of the Great Comet of 1882 inspired his exploration of astrophotography.

Detail of Shaded Relief and Color-Coded Topography Map shows Gill Crater (upper left) as high-latitude occupant of the lunar near side’s south polar region: 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:

A.S.R. “Sir David Gill.” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. LXXV, no. 4 (Feb. 12, 1915): 236-247.
Available via Harvard ADSABS (NASA Astrophysics Data System Abstracts) @ http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/MNRAS/0075//0000236.000.html

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

Gill, David. “On Mr. Finlay’s Pre-Perihelion Observations of the Great Comet 1882 II.” Astronomische Nachrichten, hundert und fünfter band (vol. 105), no. 2501 (1883): 72.
Available via HathiTrust @ https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951000600780j?urlappend=%3Bseq=47
Available via Zenodo @ https://zenodo.org/record/1424715#.XlQYNuhKiUk

Gill, David. Revision of the Cape Photographic Durchmusterung, Parts I, II, and III. London UK: His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1903.

Grego, Peter. The Moon and How to Observe It. Astronomers’ Observing Guides. London UK: Springer-Verlag, 2005.

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Gill.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/2163

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Gill A.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/9484

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Gill B.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Gill C.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/9486

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Gill D.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/9487

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Gill E.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/9488

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Gill F.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/9489

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Gill G.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/9490

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. “Gill H.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > The Moon. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/9491

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

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Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Pogson Crater Honors British Astronomer Norman Robert Pogson

Summary: The lunar far side’s Pogson Crater honors British astronomer Norman Robert Pogson, Madras Observatory director and discoverer of eight asteroids.

Detail of Lunar Astronautical Chart (LAC) 117 shows Pogson Crater system, to the east of Mare Australe (Southern Sea), in the lunar far side’s southwestern quadrant; courtesy NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) / GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center) / ASU (Arizona State University): U.S. Geological Survey, Public Domain, via USGS Astrogeology Science Center / Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

The lunar far side’s Pogson Crater honors British astronomer Norman Robert Pogson, who directed the British East India Company’s Madras Observatory for three decades and whose astronomical contributions include discovery of eight asteroids and formulation of Pogson’s ratio of stellar magnitude.

Circular Pogson Crater has a worn rim. A small craterlet perches on Pogson’s southern rim. A pair of craterlets occupy Pogson’s northeastern rim.

Pogson Crater is centered at minus 42.38 degrees south latitude, 111.11 degrees east longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The southern hemisphere crater records northernmost and southernmost latitudes at minus 41.7 degrees south and minus 43.05 degrees south, respectively. The eastern hemisphere crater registers easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 112.03 degrees east and 110.2 degrees east, respectively. Pogson Crater’s diameter spans 40.87 kilometers.

Pogson Crater is classified as a primary crater in the Pogson Crater system. The primary crater parents three satellites.

The three satellites are sited to the east of Pogson Crater. Pogson C’s northeastern position places makes it the closest to its parent. Next closest is southeastern-sited Pogson G. Pogson F, which is the most distant of the system’s satellites, lies directly east of its parent.

The Pogson Crater system lies to the east of Mare Australe (Southern Sea) in the lunar far side’s southwestern quadrant. The unevenly-surfaced, dark, basaltic plain extends over both the near side and the far side of Earth’s moon.

Mare Australe is centered at minus 47.77 degrees south latitude, 91.99 degrees east longitude. The lunar mare’s northernmost and southernmost latitudes stretch to minus 31.84 degrees south and minus 64.2 degrees south, respectively. It encounters easternmost and westernmost longitudes at 113.36 degrees east and 70.43 degrees east, respectively. Mare Australe’s length measures 996.84 kilometers.

Pogson Crater received official name approval in 1970 during the International Astronomical Union’s XIVth (14th) General Assembly, held Tuesday, Aug. 18, to Thursday, Aug. 27, in Brighton, United Kingdom. The IAU approved the designations for Pogson Crater system’s three satellites in 2006 during the organization’s XXVIth (26th) General Assembly, held Monday, Aug. 14, to Friday, Aug. 25, in Prague, Czech Republic.

Pogson Crater’s formal name honors Norman Robert Pogson (March 23, 1829-June 23, 1891). The 19th-century British astronomer served as director of the British East India Company’s Madras Observatory for three decades, from 1861 until his death. His accomplishments as an observational astronomy included discovering 13 variable stars and eight asteroids.

Pogson clinched his first asteroid find with his May 23, 1856, discovery of 42 Isis, from the Radcliffe Observatory in Oxford, Oxfordshire, South East England. His second and third asteroid discoveries, 43 Ariadne and 46 Hestia, were achieved from the Radcliffe Observatory in 1857, on April 15 and Aug. 16, respectively.

Pogson discovered his fourth asteroid, 67 Asia, on April 17, 1861. The bright asteroid numbered as his first asteroid discovery at southeastern India’s Madras Observatory.

Tamil Nadu state’s Madras Observatory also is credited as the observing site for his fifth through eighth asteroids. He claimed 80 Sappho as his fifth asteroid on May 2, 1864. He espied 87 Sylvia on May 16, 1866. He discovered his seventh asteroid, 107 Camilla, on Nov. 17, 1868, and his eighth, 245 Vera, on Feb. 6, 1885.

Pogson is also credited with formulating a mathematical scale of stellar magnitudes in which the ratio of two successive magnitudes equates to the fifth root of 100 (100^1/5). Each magnitude is defined at 100 times the brightness of its predecessor. Pogson’s formula is known as Pogson’s ratio.

The takeaways for the lunar far side’s Pogson Crater, which honors 19th-century British astronomer Norman Robert Pogson, are that the worn, circular crater parents three satellites in the far side’s southwestern quadrant, to the east of Mare Australe (Southern Sea); that the crater system’s namesake was the Government astronomer of southeastern India’s Madras Observatory; and that Norman Pogson’s astronomical contributions include discovering eight asteroids and 13 variable stars and formulating Pogson’s ratio of stellar magnitude.

Detail of Shaded Relief and Color-Coded Topography Map shows Pogson Crater system in the lunar far side’s southeastern quadrant: 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 Lunar Astronautical Chart (LAC) 117 shows Pogson Crater system, to the east of Mare Australe (Southern Sea), in the lunar far side’s southeastern quadrant; courtesy NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) / GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center) / ASU (Arizona State University): U.S. Geological Survey, Public Domain, via USGS Astrogeology Science Center / Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/images/Lunar/lac_117_wac.pdf

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