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Flamsteed (crater)

Coordinates: 4°30′S 44°18′W / 4.5°S 44.3°W / -4.5; -44.3
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Flamsteed
Coordinates4°30′S 44°18′W / 4.5°S 44.3°W / -4.5; -44.3
Diameter21 km
Depth2.2 km
Colongitude44° at sunrise
EponymJohn Flamsteed
Selenochromatic Image (Si) of the crater area(crater at the top)
Oblique view from Apollo 12

Flamsteed is a small lunar impact crater located on the Oceanus Procellarum, which is named after British astronomer John Flamsteed.[1] It lies almost due east of the dark-hued Grimaldi, and north-northwest of the flooded Letronne bay on the south edge of the mare.

Flamsteed P (ring of hills), from Lunar Orbiter 4
Oblique view of Flamsteed P, facing southwest. From Lunar Orbiter 3.

The rim of this crater is not circular in form, having a bulging rim to the southeast. The interior is relatively flat and undistinguished by impacts. The crater lies within the southern rim of a crater that has been almost completely submerged by the basaltic lava flows that formed the Oceanus Procellarum. All that remains of this feature designated Flamsteed P are some low ridges and hills arranged in a circular formation.

Flamsteed is a crater of Eratosthenian age.[2]

The Surveyor 1 craft landed within the northeast rim of the buried Flamsteed P feature, about 50 kilometers north-northeast of the Flamsteed crater rim.

Satellite craters

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By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Flamsteed.

Flamsteed Latitude Longitude Diameter
A 7.9° S 42.9° W 11 km
B 5.9° S 43.7° W 10 km
C 5.5° S 46.3° W 9 km
D 3.2° S 44.9° W 6 km
E 3.7° S 46.1° W 2 km
F 4.7° S 41.1° W 5 km
G 4.8° S 50.9° W 46 km
H 5.9° S 51.7° W 4 km
J 6.6° S 49.3° W 5 km
K 3.1° S 43.7° W 4 km
L 3.4° S 40.9° W 4 km
M 2.4° S 40.6° W 4 km
P 3.2° S 44.1° W 112 km
S 3.4° S 52.2° W 4 km
T 3.1° S 51.6° W 24 km
U 3.6° S 50.2° W 4 km
X 2.3° S 47.3° W 3 km
Z 1.3° S 47.8° W 3 km

References

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  1. ^ "Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature | Flamsteed". usgs.gov. International Astronomical Union. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  2. ^ The geologic history of the Moon. USGS Professional Paper 1348. By Don E. Wilhelms, John F. McCauley, and Newell J. Trask. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington: 1987. Table 12.2.
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  • Lunar Orbiter 1 image 192, showing the northeastern part of Flamsteed P, where Surveyor 1 landed