Davisson (crater)
 LRO image | |
| Coordinates | 37°30′S 174°36′W / 37.5°S 174.6°W |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 87 km |
| Depth | Unknown |
| Colongitude | 177° at sunrise |
| Eponym | Clinton J. Davisson |
Davisson is a lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon from the Earth. This crater lies across the eastern rim of the huge walled plain Leibnitz, and the rim and outer rampart intrudes into the interior floor of Leibnitz. To the east-northeast of Davisson is the walled plain Oppenheimer, a formation only somewhat smaller than Leibnitz.
The rim of Davisson has been somewhat eroded from impacts, but it retains some detail from its original formation. Particularly along the western face, the interior wall displays some terraces. The rim is more worn along the northeastern face, and the rim is more irregular to the north and south. The interior floor is relatively level and featureless, with a low central peak offset slightly to the southwest of the crater midpoint.
This crater is named after Clinton Joseph Davisson (1881–1958) a US physicist who in 1927 made the first experimental observation of the wave nature of electrons, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1937. With Lester Germer (1896–1971), Davisson discovered that electrons can undergo diffraction, in accordance with French physicist Louis de Broglie's theory that electrons and all other elementary particles can show wavelike behaviour.
Prior to formal naming in 1970 by the IAU,[1] the crater was known as Crater 377.[2]
References
- ^ Davisson, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)
- ^ Lunar Farside Chart (LFC-1A)
- Andersson, L. E.; Whitaker, E. A. (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Blue, Jennifer (July 25, 2007). "Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature". USGS. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
{{cite web}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81528-4.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Cocks, Elijah E.; Cocks, Josiah C. (1995). Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature. Tudor Publishers. ISBN 978-0-936389-27-1.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - McDowell, Jonathan (July 15, 2007). "Lunar Nomenclature". Jonathan's Space Report. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
{{cite web}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Menzel, D. H.; Minnaert, M.; Levin, B.; Dollfus, A.; Bell, B. (1971). "Report on Lunar Nomenclature by the Working Group of Commission 17 of the IAU". Space Science Reviews. 12 (2): 136–186. Bibcode:1971SSRv...12..136M. doi:10.1007/BF00171763.
- Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-304-35469-6.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Price, Fred W. (1988). The Moon Observer's Handbook. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-33500-3.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 978-0-913135-17-4.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes (6th revised ed.). Dover. ISBN 978-0-486-20917-3.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-62248-6.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer. ISBN 978-1-85233-193-1.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help)
