Albategnius (crater)

Albategnius
	Lunar Orbiter 4 image
Coordinates	11°12′S 4°06′E / 11.2°S 4.1°E
Diameter	129 km
Depth	4.4 km
Colongitude	356° at sunrise
Eponym	Al-Batani

Albategnius is an ancient lunar impact crater located in the central highlands. It is named after the Latin nickname for the Muslim astronomer and scientist Muhammad ibn Jābir al-Harrānī al-Battānī.

Description

The level interior of Albategnius forms a walled plain, surrounded by the high, terraced rim. The outer wall is somewhat hexagon-shaped, and has been heavily eroded with impacts, valleys and landslips. It attains a height above 4,000 metres along the northeast face. The rim is broken in the southwest by the smaller crater Klein.

Attached to the south rim is the slightly smaller crater Parrot.

Offset to the west of the crater's midpoint is its central peak, designated Alpha (α) Albategnius. It is longest in extent in the north-south direction, extending for just under 20 kilometres, and has a width about half that. The peak rises to an altitude of roughly 1.5 km, and there is a tiny, relatively fresh crater at the top.

Location

Albategnius is located to the south of the crater Hipparchus, to the east of Ptolemaeus and Alphonsus, to the west of the smaller Ritchey and to the northwest of Burnham. The surface in this area is marked by a set of nearly parallel scars that form channels running roughly in a north-south line, bent slightly to the southeast.

Observations

Albategnius is believed to have been featured prominently in an early sketch drawing by Galileo in his book Sidereus Nuncius published in 1610, appearing along the lunar terminator.

Names

Albategnius is named after Arab astronomer Al-Battani. Like many of the craters on the Moon's near side, it was given its name by Giovanni Riccioli, whose 1651 nomenclature system has become standardized.^[1] Earlier lunar cartographers had given the feature different names. Michael van Langren's 1645 map calls it "Ferdinandi III Imp. Rom." after Ferdinand III, the Holy Roman Emperor.^[2] And Johannes Hevelius called it "Didymus Mons".^[3]

Before the 1651 nomenclature, there was a crater under the name "Albategni" and located in the lunar polar region, it was mainly mentioned in Michael van Langren's 1645 map.^[4]

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 Albategnius.

Albategnius	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
A	8.9° S	3.2° E	7 km
B	10.0° S	4.0° E	20 km
C	10.3° S	3.7° E	6 km
D	11.3° S	7.1° E	9 km
E	12.9° S	6.4° E	14 km
G	9.4° S	1.9° E	15 km
H	9.7° S	5.2° E	11 km
J	11.1° S	6.2° E	7 km
K	9.9° S	2.0° E	10 km
L	12.1° S	6.3° E	8 km
M	8.9° S	4.2° E	9 km
N	9.8° S	4.5° E	9 km
O	13.2° S	4.2° E	5 km
P	12.9° S	4.5° E	5 km
S	13.3° S	6.1° E	6 km
T	12.6° S	6.1° E	9 km

Notes

^ Ewen A. Whitaker, Mapping and Naming the Moon (Cambridge University Press, 1999), p.61.
^ Ewen A. Whitaker, Mapping and Naming the Moon (Cambridge University Press, 1999), p. 198.
^ Ewen A. Whitaker, Mapping and Naming the Moon (Cambridge University Press, 1999), p. 204.
^ Langren, Michael van (1645). "Map of the Moon in the book Plenilunii lumina Austriaca Philippica".

References

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 2014-09-25. {{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. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
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)

External links

LTO-77C1 Albategnius — L&PI topographic map
Albategnius at The Moon Wiki