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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

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

  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.
  • Lunar Orbiter 1 imgae 192, showing the northeastern part of Flamsteed P, where Surveyor 1 landed